What Are Friends?
by That Rabid Fangirl
Summary: My pet project, set at Wammy's, with all character ages evened out. Kind of a cliche drabbles story. Warning: OC. I'm having lots of fun with this story!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! This is my first Death Note fanfic, so excuse the lameness . I just love anime, and I've written a few Pokemon ones, so this might not be ENTIRELY pathetic. I had this idea REALLY late at night when I was daydreaming about lemons. That has nothing to do with it, but I love lemons. And I bought some cinnamon Tic Tacs today that I heard you could only get in America… ok, stop rambling, you. Get on with the damned fanfic! Ok, ok.**

Chapter One – The New Kid

**LESLIE**

Before I start, let me give you a bit of background information.

My mother died giving birth to me. I know that sounds tragic and overdone, but it's not my fault. And poor dad. He really, really loved mum. He tried to take care of me, but when I was three he couldn't cope. He jumped off a bridge. So, at just three years old I lost my immediate family. Both my parents were only children, but my mum's parents were still alive, so they came over from England to take care of me. Up until I was 13, we lived happily in Melbourne, until the horrific car crash that killed my grandparents. So I was all alone. And what to do?

It turned out that if all my relatives died (which they did) I would be sent to the UK to go to an orphanage. I was put through some tests and it seemed that I would go to an orphanage for "gifted children". I'm no prodigy, my Maths is average and my Science… lets not talk about that. But I had a brilliant problem solving mind, and my guesses were usually accurate. Everybody decided that it was the best idea.

If I'd know what was ahead of me, I would've joined my parents in Heaven. Then again, maybe it was worth it for just one person…

"And now, may I introduce Leslie Charles, who will be joining us. She is 13, and from Austria…"

"Australia," I corrected.

"Yes, well, she's not from here. Now, go sit next to L."

"Uhm…" I immediately turned to a girl with a nameplate reading _Elle_, but the seat next to her was filled with an evil looking blonde boy. There was a slightly mad looking boy whose name appeared to be L, and a nametag reading _Leslie_ was next to him, so this was my best bet.

I walked over to him and slid into my seat.

"_Hi_," I whispered.

"_Hello_," he whispered back.

We sat in silence for the rest of the lesson, but I knew I'd made my first friend here in the

UK.

**L**

Ok, so this girl was… different. She wasn't really that worried that I'd forgotten to wear deodorant that morning (to my great embarrassment) or that my hi was more of a he-_LLO_.

At the end of the lesson she gathered up her books and turned to me expectantly.

"So, now what?" she asked, obviously directing the question to me.

I blushed and went a beet red. Girls generally didn't talk to me. Nobody generally talked to me, except that Near kid and some others. But no girls.

"Uh, uhm, well, ummmm…"

Why hadn't that whispered hi bothered me like this? Maybe because I didn't _have_ to answer, so there was no pressure…

I gulped.

"Well, uhm, now we have, uhm, free time. It's the end of the day and we, uhm, usually fool around a bit, or do homework."

Only I did homework. And that Near kid.

**LESLIE**

As we left, that evil looking guy stopped and stared at me. A boy in stripes stood behind him, like a bodyguard or an unbelievably devoted friend.

"Hi, I'm Leslie!"

I stook out a hand. He ignored it.

"Mello. This is Matt."

"Mello, is it? And Matt? Nice to meet you both!"

He just frowned at me, and left. I raised an eyebrow at L.

"That's Mello."

"I gathered."

We walked in silence up the stairs to a large dorm.

"This is Dorm 3. C'mon, I'll introduce you to everyone," L said.

I wondered why he was doing that. He seemed very shy. As we walked around the room, I saw that the other kids seemed to treat him with a degree of awe.

"Why do they stare at you like that?" I asked him.

He shrugged, a blush rising on his pale cheeks.

"Meh."

You must be wondering what I look like. Well, I'm about middle height, maybe a bit short, not exactly lacking in the chest area, with messy short auburn hair. L is taller than me, pale as, with messy black hair and dark eyes that remind me a little bit of a panda's. My skin's fairly tanned, kinda olive, I guess.

"You know what _I_ think?" I teased.

"What?"

"I think you're REAL smart or something."

He nodded, embarrassed, and quickly moved on.

"This is Near," L said, obviously more comfortable with the white-haired boy.

"Hi!" I said cheerfully, my eyes curling into happy semi-circles.

He held out a hand and I shook it. Everything about this Near kid was white. His clothes, his hair, his skin… he even smelt like white, whereas L smelt like sugar and I smelt like lemons.

"You must be Kate," he said.

"Nup. Leslie," L corrected.

Near even _blushed_ white. Good lord, is this kid a vampire or something?

**L**

Well, Near was making an idiot of himself. Great. To save him any more pain, I dragged Leslie as much as I could drag somebody I'd only known for two hours and was a girl, and a pretty one at that.

"Well, here's your bed," I said, gesturing down at the bleak scene.

There was a bedside table/chest of draws and a bed-box with lock. That was it, apart from the actual bed.

"Your clothes are in the chest of draws. Your suitcase is in the bed-box. It looks locked, but it's not. The key'll be inside. Then you can really lock it," I explained.

I watched as she got out her suitcase and opened it up on her bed. The top drawer on her chest of draws was also lockable. She took out a wooden box, also locked, and placed it in the top drawer. From under he clothes she took a necklace with a small brass key and some lucky Chinese coins on it. I blanched.

"You're not allowed to wear any jewellery except for a watch and studs in your ears, you know," I informed her, panicking.

"It's ok," she said, sliding the new key onto the chain and putting it back on. "The collar's high. The chain's long. And I'm NOT taking it off. The keys are important, and as well as that, these coins are all I have that's not borrowed or clothing. I never got pocket money. I saved up loose change and bought them. They mean a lot to me. Plus, they're really lucky."

I wasn't superstitious. I didn't believe that lucky crap for a second.

"How are they lucky?"

"They ward off bad luck, more."

I gave her the question in my eyes.

"The day I took them off, my grandparents crashed."

Enough said. I left her alone.

"It's ok," she reassured me, "They were awful. But, they were better than nothing… they fed me nice food, and I went to a nice school…"

She looked misty and stared off into space.

"Yeah, well. So. Where's your bed?" Leslie asked.

I stopped. Where was my bed? I looked around and realised that I had the one next to her. What luck! What unbelievable, brilliant, sappy-novel like LUCK. I didn't even need lucky charms to make my day go well. All I can say was that I was looking forward greatly to being friends with Leslie.

**Well, waddaya think? I really don't know about Leslie… I'm thinking about what I'll do to her… I've got a few ideas… maimed in a car crash is SO cliché, so that's off the list…**

"**But I'm hideous!" "I don't care, I love you!" kiss**

**Ugh.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, this is the second chapter… how did the first one go? Sucketh? Loveth? PLEASE LET ME KNOW!! And I know some bits aren't very true to the story… give me some artistic licence, k. I basically just took the characters and a few basic ideas. Ugh, the purists are probably going to flame me. Oh well.**

Chapter 2: "So…"

**LESLIE**

It had been five days since I had arrived here at this crazy orphanage. After a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of work, this Saturday was a relief.

"So…"

I sat as L crouched. He had just demolished three chocolate bars and a stack of pancakes in ten minutes. I flipped open the lid of my Tic Tacs box and selected a Tac. Or a Tic. I wonder…

"Can I have one?" L asked me with pleading eyes.

"You," I said, popping a Tac into my mouth for effect, "Have had far too much sugar already."

The eyes.

"No."

…

"Oh, alright. But you owe me…"

I shook a Tic onto his palm. He gobbled it up in obvious delight. I mean, I'm an addict but he just looked like I'd awarded him first prize in the Perfect Contest.

"So, today's a Saturday. Now what?"

"Well…" he slowly chewed his food, thinking.

As he opened his mouth, Near slid in and squished up next to me in the crowded cafeteria. L looked unhappy at that, but Near just beamed at me with straight, _white_ teeth. I found myself wondering if he was an albino. And if his gums were white.

"Well, we can show you around, if you like. You only saw our Dorm last time."

L was frowning, but I thought that it would be highly impolite to say no. So I didn't.

"But first, let's finish breakfast," I suggested at the look on L's face.

I sat quietly, drinking my tea.

"What are you drinking?" L asked, breaking the silence.

"Tea," I answered, barely looking up.

"Can I try some?"

I reluctantly handed over my mug. L took a sip and made a face.

"Bleuuurgh!"

"You get used to it," I said happily.

He passed the mug to Near, who had the same result.

"You'll learn to love it. I'll make sure of that," I said, an evil grin on my face.

L looked worried. Near looked unfrazzled. I could be very persuasive.

**L**

Near and I started our little tour with the gardens. At the moment they were frostbitten and pale. Leslie shuddered and gathered her coat around her.

"I hate this weather. It makes no sense. In Melbourne, it'd be 30 degrees Celsius today. But ooooooh no, brrrr, it's fr-EEZING!! And only two weeks until my birthday!"

"What?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. I'm 14 on the 17th."

The 17th of January? That's only just over two weeks away!

"What do you want?" Near asked before I could.

Leslie paused for a long while.

"Friends. But I have those now."

She smiled warmly at us. I melted.

"We were your Christmas present. What do you want?" I insisted.

Leslie just smiled a smile that told us she had all that she could ever want. But that wasn't good enough. I had to buy her SOMETHING… all she had that she actually owned was a wooden box and some lucky coins. What would I buy her?

"Near, I need to talk to you."

I drew Near aside into a little niche.

"What?" he queried.

He was so pale he was almost glowing.

"Well, don't tell her I told you, but Leslie owns practically _nothing_. I really think we should get her something nice for her birthday," I told him.

"No way! She said it herself: she doesn't want anything. She has me – us, I mean, now."

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you SO love her."

"Do not! I barely know her!" Near withdrew and walked off down the corridor, claiming he had homework to do.

I smiled humourlessly. It was obvious Near liked Leslie quite a bit. But there was only one problem… I loved her too.

**LESLIE**

_3-1-2008_

_Dear Diary,_

_I didn't know it was possible to be so HAPPY! I've made two new friends, and there are a few weird mean kids. There's this girl called Elle I think I might introduce myself to, and maybe a few others. There's this boy called L that's a friend, and this uber-pale kid called Near, who is really nice. They're both so brilliant to become friends with _me_, which is better than the kids in Australia could do. They really didn't like me. I don't know why (. Maybe because I wasn't afraid to be myself…_

I snapped my diary shut as that Mello guy and his lackey came up to me.

"What are you doing?" Mello asked.

I frowned at him.

"Skydiving."

"Listen, newbie!" He thrust his head in near mine. "I say what goes on here. I'm the tough guy."

"What?!" I shrieked, pushing him away. "What is this? You don't rule over me. Only _I_ rule over me. So leave me alone. Or else, ok," I threatened, making it clear that I wasn't a pushover.

"Your boyfriend isn't here to defend you, you know," Mello sneered.

I was taken aback by this new angle.

"Who?" I asked.

"L. Or Near. You've got two, you slut!"

"Whatever. I'm not a slut. They're not my boyfriends. We both know that. Whatever you say can't hurt me," I said calmly, and then ignored him.

That had worked, but I knew it couldn't last. But for now, I would enjoy myself. And ignore Mello. For a second, I wondered about Matt. What was he like? Was he evil? Was he just confused? I'd have to find out. My curiosity was massive.

That night at dinner, I had to ask L. Near was at some competition, as well as Mello.

"What's what?" he asked with a mouth full of pasta.

"I said, what is Mello's problem?"

L shrugged and looked down at his food.

"Mmmmm?" I prompted.

"He's competitive."

I rolled my eyes.

"_I'm_ competitive. He's… evil."

L nodded in agreement.

"Maybe life was tough for him," he said thoughtfully, then shovelled more food into his mouth.

"And what about Matt?"

L paused thoughtfully.

"He plays his Gameboy… a lot…"

I looked over my shoulder and watched him for a bit.

"Yeah. I noticed," I replied.

L shrugged again.

"That's about all."

"His personality is Gameboy?" I asked sceptically.

L just shrugged.

"That's really ticking me off," I grumbled, throwing a bit of bread at him.

He ducked and it hit the person behind in the head. I quickly blamed the people behind me and made a speedy exit.

8_-1-08_

_Dear Diary,_

_Things have been very odd lately. I feel like something is going on behind my back. I dunno… I doubt it's malicious or anything. Unless that evil Mello guy is in on it. THEN I'll have to watch my back. But I really wouldn't think that L, or even Near, would DO that kind of thing… well, maybe I'm just imagining it._

**L**

I was pretty sure by now that Leslie knew we were "up to something". Well, it was really more me. Near had refused to get involved, but he was cracking. Badly. He's already helped me find a few things that I needed.

"Are you sure that she'll even WANT this?" he'd asked me a few days ago.

I'd turned and looked at him. He'd paled (even more) as I said,

"We're doing this for her. She's probably never HAD anything like this done for her. She doesn't know what she's missing."

Near just nodded, not entirely convinced.

"Now," I said, briskly changing the subject. "Where did you put that stapler?"

**I'm sorry this took so long. Well, if anybody's been reading it . Oh you will… you will… And please comment! **_**Constructive**_** criticism is welcomed, but anything is good. If you MUST flame me, whatever. I'm very thick-skinned. Sticks and stones.**

…

**And I'm great at comebacks. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3… ok, for a while there, my creative juices stopped flowing. But they came back and are on tap now. I got really drunk on them last night and write something that might have been brilliant if it didn't involve about five near-death experiences, a trip to America and a guy called Bradley. I kid you not.**

Chapter 3 – About L

**LESLIE**

I couldn't help giggling at the giant, strawberry covered cream thing that was being carried towards me. Birthdays were fairly big here, and if it was your first in the orphanage they went out of their way to make you feel loved.

While 8-year-olds sang at the tops of their lungs and certain people I would rather not be here sulked in a corner, L grinned at me and so did Near. They looked like they'd been planning something…

That afternoon during lunch, L came up to me.

"Can you come with me for a sec?" he asked.

Intrigued, I followed him into a little classroom. Near was there already, waiting.

"I knew you were up to something!" I accused, hands on hips.

I put my tea down on a table and moved over to Near. I was taller than him.

"And what might you have behind your back?" I asked evilly.

At a look from L, he presented a lumpy present. At once, my eyes filled up.

"Aw, thanks!" I gushed, looking around for something or someone to hug.

Near, sensing this, backed away until he was next to L and put of hugging range. I huggled the present instead.

"It's squishy!" I exclaimed, bemused.

"Just open it," L said, smiling.

I tore open the packaging. A hand-made rug fell out.

It wasn't even.

It wasn't professional.

It was thick and fluffy. It had writing, pictures and random bits of cloth. The stitching was messy, but strong.

**L**

She just stared at it for ages. And then I realised.

I was an idiot.

She didn't want it.

She hated it.

Emotions welled up inside me. All this while, I'd been shoving my feelings down. Remorse, anger, sadness, glee, mirth and excitement, and hundreds of others. They all came bubbling up. It was like waking up in a new universe. It felt like I was seeing colours and smelling smells differently.

When I'd made that rug, all I could think of was _working_. Not if she'd like it, or if I was enjoying the process, just about the task at hand and the product. I'd hoped she'd like it, but in my mind I had to get it done first. And well.

"Don't you like it?" Near asked, worried.

He wore his heart on his sleeve more than I had ever done. I wanted to do the same. Not to give away myself, but to let the word see me.

"I – I…" Leslie started, then stopped.

And to my dismay I saw she had burst into tears. She flung herself across the room and at us, enveloping Near and me in a bone crushing hug with her long arms.

"Thankyou," she sobbed. "Thankyou so, so much."

The old me would have stood there, frozen in shock. Even Near looked a bit uncomfortable. But I hugged her back, putting all my feeling into the embrace.

"That's what we're here for," I whispered so that only she could hear.

**LESLIE**

Later that night I was sitting outside with my blanket, contemplating the stars. As I stared at them, they told me a different story that they had in Australia. A very, very bright star shone overhead. I smiled at it; feeling comforted in a strange was to know that this was the very star that I had bidden goodbye to every year when spring began to show. It was the star that I had told my triumphs to and told my woes to when the season was right. It had heard me complain about the cold, my grandparents and millions of other things.

It was funny to see it in this setting. It was like seeing an old friend at the airport, and finding out that you're going to the same place.

L came out and sat down next to me. For a long time we did nothing but stare at the stars. Finally, I turned to him.

"Who are you, L?" I asked.

We sat in silence for a bit longer.

Then he spoke.

"I don't remember much before the age of seven. I remember not being able to tie up my shoelaces, some jazz music and a big shaggy dog, but that's it.

'From seven onwards, it's a different story. I remember an old man bringing me here. Oh, I was so, so scared. On my first day nobody would talk to me. I found a strawberry in my fruit salad that day. I was the only kid with a strawberry. I love strawberries."  
He chuckled. I smiled too. Then his face grew darker.

"A boy came. He's long gone now; he would've been 16 then. He took my strawberry and spat at me. I just cried, and cried, and cried, until I couldn't cry anymore. I felt so weak.

'So I began to shove all my emotion down. I bottled it up inside me. As I saw it, my happiness at that strawberry had made me a target. I didn't want it to happen again. So, I became this, this emotionless… I dunno, _thing_. But now… I guess that… well, um, I just kinda let go my emotions again, and well… it's nice."

He finished with an embarrassed smile.

I felt privileged to have been let in on such a big part of his life.

"What's your name?" I finally asked him.

He just smiled at me.

"I can't tell you."  
"Maybe one day?" I begged.

"Maybe one day," he agreed.

**Well, that's Chapter 3! Feels like it's flying past. I know the blanket thing is kitsch, but I couldn't help myself. It seemed like a nice thing to put into the story. And I know that this chapter is a tad pointless, but anyway. I like it. It's cute.**

**And as always, please, please review! If you've got **_**anything**_** to say, please do.**

**Thanks!**

**x TRF**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay! Chapter 4! And thank **_**you**_** coolgirl200 and funky platypus for Favouriting the story! And also, thanks funky platypus for reviewing! In answer to your question, yes, I'm pretty sure that Near, Mello and Matt ARE younger, but I've evened out their ages so the story works. So, sorry purists!**

**LESLIE**

That night, I was sitting on my bed, engrossed in my knitting. Knitting helped me think. I was making a scarf. I was actually quite a good knitter. My grandma had made sure of that. I paused to quickly grab myself a Tic, and then continued with my fuzzy kaki scarf.

"Done your maths?" L asked, stealing himself a Tac and settling down on my bed.

I made a face.

"I've got plenty of time."

We sat in silence.

"What are you making?" he finally asked, looking at my hands, blurry with the speed of my knitting.

"Knitting. My grandmother was, uhm, very careful that I received a proper _young ladies_ education," I said, giving the words "young ladies" a posh accent. "All I really picked up was how to knit."

I shrugged.

He watched me for a bit longer.

"I'll make you a deal," L finally proposed.

"Hmm?"

"You finish that scarf for me, and I'll teach you how to make sense of directed numbers."

Oh, goodie! I had absolutely zippo grasp on Maths, and directed numbers were my weakest point. Kind of like an Achilles heel, if Achilles was really weak.

"Deal," I said, stopping my scarf-making to shake hands.

Then I went back to my knitting with renewed vigour.

**L**

That was good. I needed a scarf.

I could see the furrows in Leslie's forehead as she struggled with the concept of directed numbers.

"So, you take the negative sign here and the minus sign there, and that makes a plus," I explained, showing it on the paper.

Leslie looked bemused.

"What happens with the, uhm, negative then?" she asked.

She reached for a Tic Tac. I put a hand out to stop her.

"Sugar is bad for your brain," I stated.

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Then how smart would you be if you didn't eat so much sugar? Nobody in the world could _possibly_ be that smart! So, therefore, I should be getting smarter if I eat the amount of sugar you do."

"Mmmm-hmmm," I half-agreed. I'd made up the bit about sugar.

"OK. Right. So, that disappears and that is traded for that…"

She made little arrows in pencil around the sum.

"Basically, yes!" I grinned, giving her a high five.

"Basically?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well… um, that's kind of… not really like that," I mumbled. "But it's close! You've just got to swap this for that."

Leslie nodded and I could see she really was trying.

**LESLIE**

"Thanks, L," I chirped as I gathered my Maths stuff.

"Any time," he smiled, handing me my forgotten calculator.

I blushed ridiculously as our hands brushed. Keeping my head down, I got outta there.

That night, I lay in bed, trying to tack down the thoughts spinning around my head. Start with the easy ones, I thought. Maths, or emotions? I decided to practice my seven times tables, where I was severely lacking. _1x77, 2x714… _I didn't even get up to eight times seven before I feel asleep.

The next morning, I was greeted with a sleepy nod from my friends at the breakfast table. I wasn't much better myself. But for the first time, I realised how much I wished I had a female friend that I could share my feelings with. The guys were great, but there were some things they just didn't get, and I couldn't talk to them about clothes, or boys, or ask them if they could lend me their spare skirt or a pair of socks. Not that they _wore_ skirts or anything. And I generally distrust boy's socks. No matter how many times you wash them.  
"What's up?" I asked, then yawned a jaw-breaking yawn.  
"Not much…" Near replied, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.

I hated Mondays.

"How's the Maths?" L asked me, giving me that twisted smile I adored.

I made a monosyllableic grunt of non-committal.

"That bad, huh?"

Grunt.

"And the scarf?"

"Scarf!?" Near exploded. "I want a scarf! Why is nobody making _me_ a scarf??"

He could be so immature at times.

"Leslie and I had an exchange. I'd help her with directed numbers, she'd make me a scarf."

"The system works," I grinned.

Near looked very jealous. I couldn't blame him. This scarf was gonna be a _cracker_!

"Anyway," I said, briskly changing the subject, "Double English, today."

I whistled to myself as I went off to get myself some waffles. I came back. I stole the maple syrup off L. And in that moment, I imagined my life as a musical. I'm whistling some musical-y song and then suddenly the whole cafeteria starts singing along and dancing perfectly. I imagined myself in the middle of it, still whistling, then the music and the singing and the hubbub stops and I'm doing a little whistling solo and everybody is smiling and happy…

"Are you going to eat that?"

I'm interrupted my L. He's pointing to the bit of waffle dripping onto my plate.

"Uhm, yeah. Duh," I replied, hastily stuffing my face.

He rolled his eyes.

"Come on, demolish it. We have… no, we're late," he encouraged.

Near laughed at my panic.

"We have twelve more minutes, Leslie," he corrected.

L rolled his eyes again and made a face.

"Spoilsport. It _is_ only Art period one, anyway."

Art! Something I couldn't fail!

"Leslie, I love that iceberg! So many colours, and textures…" the art teacher, who's name I'd forgotten, gushed.

I made a face and continued painting.

"What? Don't you like it?" she asked, concerned.

"Well…" I muttered.

"Yes?" she encouraged. "It's good to brainstorm."  
"I've actually painted a tree."

So much for not failing art.

"That wasn't so bad…" L reassured me when the art teacher moved away.

"Lets see yours, then," I said, ignoring his comment.

"No."

"Aww! Come _on_!"

I tried to sneak past him. He moved his sketch.

"Come on, L, just show me the damned picture!"

I grabbed it out of his hand. It showed a girl, hunched over, eating a Tic. It was really, really good. I said so.

"It's not."

L scuffed his foot against the lino.

"Is so!"

I pinched his art book.

"These are all great, L! Why are you ashamed of them?"

He blushed. I took a closer look at them.

My stomach felt like it was about to drop out.

"It's me, isn't it?"

He nodded silently.

**L**

Leslie keeled over onto the art room lino. She hit her head on the floor, hard.

"What happened?" Ms Marashell asked, running over.

"She just… fainted," I mumbled.

I couldn't tell her about the drawings. No way.

"Somebody run and get the nurse!"

I volunteered. I couldn't risk being there if she woke up and told everyone about my art.

**Phew! Done! And while I'm at it, danke, sadiegrl and Bloodied Sand! Flattered, flattered. And Izzy, can you be a liiiitle more specific? Most appreciated. And I'm really, really sorry this took so long coming, but I was recently buried under a pile of homework and the rescue crews only just got to me… oh crap, I still have to do my Science.. oh crap oh crap oh crap…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Oops… I forgot to include the Chapter Name in Chapter 4… uhm… it's the chapter WITH NO NAME!! Duh duh duuuuuuuuh! **

Chapter 5 – Art? What Art?

**L**

"So, she's going to be fine now. She just needs lots of bed rest," the doctor said to the nurse.

She nodded to me as the doctor left the sick-room. I went in.

"Hey hey," Leslie said as I walked up.

She tried to lift herself up and failed, falling back onto the pillows.

"How are you?" I asked nervously.

"Ugh. Been better. Dosed up on painkillers. Got stitches. Feel woozy," she said, like she was speaking in shorthand. "And how's my favourite letter?"

"Worried, for you," I admitted.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she mumbled, weakly flapping a hand.

"No," I said. "You're not."

"Mmmm. I guess so. Can you get me a, uhm, a Tic?"

I passed an orange one to her. She popped in her mouth.

"That's better. Now, can you help me?" she asked.

I put my head on the side.

"Aw, that's cute. Now, can you tell me what happened after breakfast?" she asked again.

"W-what?"

"I don't remember anything after you trying to steal my waffles. The doc said it wasn't common, but minimal memory loss could happen with head injuries."

She smiled weakly.

"Well…" I said, shaking just a bit. "Well, we went into art. The teacher thought your painting was something like an igloo when it was actually a tree."

"And?" she prodded.

"And then somebody… somebody was chucking around a clay ball and it hit you, hard, in the ankles. You dropped like a stone and hit your head," I lied efficiently.

"That was inconsiderate."

"It was. But you'll be ok now."

I got an mmmm.

"Well, you need rest," I said, getting up.

"Mmmm. Come back soon. Wake me up if you need to. Bring Near for a visit," she instructed.

"Ok," I replied, shutting the door softly on her.

It was good to see Leslie back the next week. She had her hair tied up and looked ready for anything.

"Good," I answered, when she told me so. "We have PE today."

Leslie grinned. She was good at sport. Unlike me.

**LESLIE**

Sport was great. We played volleyball. I won it for my team. I think…

At the end of the match, L came up to me, panting and tripping over his feet.

"You're not a sport person, are you?" I asked him wryly.

"No," he panted. "I'm not."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Can't you talk to somebody about quitting?" I asked him, catching him as he tripped.

"Maybe."

"Bwuk bwuk bwuk!" I clucked evilly.

"Maybe," he said again.

God, he was stubborn!

"Maybe," I said.

"Maybe what?"

I shrugged.

He frowned.

I laughed.

"You're hopeless," I said, giving him a matey punch on the arm.

Just then, some kid ran up to me with a parcel.

"Leslie Charles?" he asked.

"That's moi," I said, taking the parcel with great interest. "You know what it is?"

He shook his head and ran away. I shrugged. I was doing a lot of that lately.

"What is it?" L asked eagerly as I ripped it open.

"It's a…" What _was_ it? Oh!

"It's a care package from my old nextdoor neighbours back in Oz… aw, there's Vegemite, and Tim Tams…"

I got a bit teary at that stage. I think it was seeing the Veg. L, noticing this, quickly changed the subject.

"What _is_ Vegemite?" he asked.

That was tactful. I exploded with indignation.

"WHAT IS VEGEMITE! VEGEMITE! _THE _VEGEMITE! HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT _VEGEMITE_ IS! AAAAAAHHH!" 

I went on like this for a few seconds. Finally, I calmed down enough to explain the brilliance of the salty yeast spread. He listened, but I could tell he was being bored. He wasn't an Aussie. I couldn't hold it against him, but it was a fact of life. You had to grow up with Vegemite.

"Never mind," I muttered after a while, disappointed just a little bit.

He seemed to pick up on that.

"Sorry. I just guess Vegemite isn't a 'thing' for me."

I nodded, accepting it.

"I'm a terrible teacher! And I have memory loss problems! I wish you'd tell me what _really_happened."

**L**

That one caught me off guard.

"What?" I asked her.

"Yeah. It's obvious you were lying. I mean, come on. A clay ball? What _is_ that, anyway? No, L, I don't believe you for a second," she said.

Phew. She had no idea _what_ it was, but she knew that he was lying. That was ok.

"Can you please just tell me?" she begged. "I'll shut up about Vegemite and pavlova!"

I smiled.

"Tempting, but no. Maybe one day. But not now. I'm not ready. You're not ready."

That was reasonable, wasn't it?

"Don't make me ask Near," she threatened.

"He doesn't know. He just saw you fall, is all." Two could play at her game.

Leslie smiled like she didn't care, but she did. Then her face went strangely blank. Then she spoke slowly.

"I – I remember something after. We were about to have art, and I said to you, 'Good, I can't fail this'. Did that happen?"

Slowly, I nodded. It was all coming back to her. Slowly, but surely, she would get to the bit with the sketches… suddenly _I_ felt like the one who had stitches in the head.

"So… you don't remember my art?" I probed. I couldn't help myself.

"Art?" she asked, bamboozled. "What art?"

I smiled inwardly. She had no memory of it! So far…

"Anyway," she said, smiling all the way back to her molars. "I have to find toast and butter. I need Vegemite toast… now!!"

She trotted off to the cafeteria in search of cooked bread. I stayed behind, meaning to get some homework done or something. Near came up to me.

"That was _awkward_. Poor you," he said.

I frowned at him.

"You have no idea."

**Yes, I know that took its time… my internet kind of… crashed and I couldn't post anything. I already know the plot of the next chapter or two… I'm wondering, though, if I should stretch it out for another 3 or 4 chapters? I have the perfect end and I really wanna finish this fic so I can write other stuff (maybe more oneshots or some random crossovers). Actually, I was thinking about this thing with Pikachu… oh, never mind. I'll finish this up first.**


	6. Chapter 6

Ha ha

**Ha ha! Chapter 6! I think I might go up to having about 8 chapters, and then an epilogue. Or is it a prologue? Hmmm… I wonder. Does anybody know??**

Chapter 6: Maybe Not Ready

**LESLIE**

I was walking down the corridor to nowhere in particular, enjoying my free period and my Vegemite, when Roger came up to me.

"Leslie?"

I nodded.

"Can I just… do you want to come into my office?"

I shrugged and followed him. When we got there I sat down on a chair opposite a big desk. He sat behind it and made a steeple out of his fingers. I tried not to giggle.

"Are you ok, Leslie?"

The question threw me off, and drew all thoughts of giggling from my mind.

"Wha? Sorry, pardon?"

He nodded at my correction.

"Well, I see you've made friends with some students who were previously lonely before… your grades are fine, except in maths…"

"If you're beating around the bush, can you stop it?" I grumbled suddenly.

I wasn't usually so rude! I just suddenly felt a bit scared. What did _he_ care?

"Well, ok. Mello. Is he… causing you any trouble?"

I played dumb.

"What? The kid with the chocolate? Pah, no!"

Roger stared me in the eye.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

I wasn't actually very worried about Mello. I didn't care about rumours and psychical abuse I could easily hold out against, at least once; after that, I'd tell. I didn't care if he called me weak. Sticks and stones.

"We head from… other children that he called you a few things…"

"What? Slut?"

"Among… other things."

"And?"

"Well, we thought you might… want to talk about it?"

"No need."

"Well, ok. But if you feel that you need someone to talk to…"

"Come to you. Can I leave?"

"Yes, of course."

I left his office and looked at my toast. It was cold.

**L**

Near and I were sitting, eating lunch when Leslie burst in.

"Did either of you snitch to Roger??" she demanded.

She was rabid. I could tell something had really, really hit a nerve. Maybe she had loyalty issues? Meanwhile, Near studied his pasta like he had never seen something so fascinating.

"Near?"

"Hmmmm?"

"_Did you tell Roger??_"  
"Tell him what, exactly?"

"THAT'S JUST IT!!"

A few people turned and looked at her. She frowned them down.

"Somebody told Roger that Mello called me some names! I-don't-even-care-but-Roger-made-a-massive-fuss-over-it-and-now-I'm-being-'kept-an-eye-on'-which-means-no-more-fun-and-I'm-pratctically-booked-in-with-the-shrink-who-spilled-tell-me-or-I'll-rid-out-your-innards!"

She said that very quickly and very angrily. It didn't exactly make sense, but we got this jist.

"Leslie, calm. I'm sure that whoever told Roger had the best intentions…" I started.

"I do not _care_ about intentions! It's loyalty! I believe in loyalty! You know, all for one and one for all? I think it was classified as… loyalty issues. Outward, not inward."

Bingo.

"So, basically, you're loyal and want everybody else to be loyal too?" I said, just wanting this rant to end.

"YES!! So, I won't be _too _angry… if you… tell… me…"

Her hands were clenched into fists. I'd never seen somebody so mad before.

"Um… Leslie?"

"Yes, Near?"

"It was… um, me."

Leslie took a shaky breath in.

"Why? Why did you snitch – _tell, _sorry, tell Roger?"

Near shrugged.

"I was… worried about you, I guess."

Leslie's eyes softened. A bit.

"I understand your intentions… but, my stuff is my own, k. So no more interfering from either of you, ok. Now, I need sugar."

We both nodded and she went off to find something sweet.

"Neeeeaaaaaar," I moaned as soon as she left. "Can't you _not_ stick your beak into everything for once?"

"Well, L, as a matter of fact, I don't stick it into everything…"

"Just most stuff."

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe you should stop."

Near shrugged a maybe.

**LESLIE**

Later that day, I had practically forgiven Near. He had been very nice, and even found me a packet of Tic Tacs that hadn't been half-eaten. The lollies, I mean. Not the packet.

I was sitting on my bed, generally enjoying myself, and knitting, when a shadow fell across my bed. I didn't bother to look up.

"Mello, what do you want?" I asked in a tired voice.

"Blood."

I laughed, but without humour.

"God, you're mixed up. Can't we just… move on? We don't have to be friends, but at least not enemies, yeah? I fight dirty. I pull hair. I bite. I tell afterwards. Rodger will murder you. He's already convinced that I'm mixed up, thanks to you," I said, bored.

He made this weird sound. It was kind of like a snarl. I looked up.

"You ok, there?" I asked.

He was going a bit red. If I'd known better, I would've dived under my bed for cover, but I was a bit stupid at that point and stood up.

"You look iiiiill," I told him.

An eye twitched.

A little while later I walked into the study hall and sat next to L, wordlessly.

"Hey Leslie."

He turned around.

"Woah! What… happened to you?"

I guess I was a bit of a sight. Bloodied lip, black eye… at least Mello looked the same. Or worse. He only had a half-cast, after all. I had been very kind to him.

"Mello?" Near asked, sliding into the chair next to me.

I nodded.

"Tell Roger," L said.

"No, actually. For all my talk of dobbing… well, I think I can take care of this one," I said.

"Leslie… you'll be fine now, but puberty's on Mello's side… he's gonna get taller, and stronger," Near said, quietly.

I snorted. So? I'd get taller, too. And strength wasn't the only thing I needed.

"Matt."

"What?"

"Matt! It's brilliant! I'll get him psychologically as well!"

"Leslie… are you sure about that? I mean, Matt is like…"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving a hand. "Whatever. I know Matt is kind of a… Mello devotee. But, I have a plan."

**L**

I listened to her plan. Sure, it was clever. And efficient. But mad.

"Leslie, it's _not going to work_!! You'll need… time to be convincing. You can't act for that long. No offence, but your temper will get the better of you," I sighed.

Actually, I'd said that a fair few times. It wasn't making an impact.

"It will work!" she said, her eyes shining. "Now, Near, I need pretty ribbons, could you hunt some down for me, maybe? And L, could you find out where to buy a cheap, girly dress? And I need blush! And mascara! I'm going to have to talk to Elle about some of this. Anyway…"

I folded my arms and gave her a no. She gave me puppy dog eyes.

"Just an incy pincy bit of research? Pleeeaaaase?"

I shrugged, and my doubts were forgotten by her.

**I'm think it's an epilogue. I'm not 100 sure. Anyway, I'm taking some time off from this story to write some oneshots. I won't be very long, I just wanna bulk up my list with some not Death Note stuff. Maybe something Edward-Cullen-ish. We shall see.**


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry about the wait, everybody

**Sorry about the wait, everybody! **

Chapter 7: The Beast Which Dwells Within

**L**

Near and I had gone outside, for once. He'd taken a puzzle. I hadn't taken anything. Just my thoughts.

"She looks weird, doesn't she?" Near asked me.

I knew what he meant. Leslie, in a dress?

It had been three months since Leslie's grand plan had come into action. She'd bought the dresses. She'd bought the magazines. She'd borrowed the makeup. And now there was only one thing she needed to do.

Her laughter floated across the lawn. It was a warm, sunny day, uncommon in England. Dragonflies hovered over the pond lazily. Flowers waved in the breeze. It was the biggest cliché in history.

Sunlight hit something – bingo. She'd gotten it. _Crack! _The sound of Leslie biting into chocolate – _Mello's _chocolate – carried across the garden. I didn't believe in the divine, but I prayed anyway. Leslie was strong, but was she strong enough to withstand whatever Mello was capable of without fighting back?

"WHO STOLE MY LAST CHOCOLATE BAR??"

Her plan was working brilliantly. Too brilliantly, if you ask me. I prayed for her even harder. Mello came striding over to the group of girls. Leslie, in her short cherry-print dress, smiled at him and stood up.

"Sorry, Melly! I'd hoped you wouldn't mind. I ran out of Tic Tacs, and…"

She didn't even sound sarcastic. She really had done a great job. Mello gave an inhuman scream and threw himself at her. He really did need chocolate to survive.

Leslie took everything he threw at her without doing anything. She slipped to the grass and tried to crawl away.

"Please!" she screamed. "I'm not like that anymore!"

He didn't stop, and nobody stopped him. Where was Matt?

**LESLIE**

Ok, Matt, now would be a great time to come and save me.

**L**

Things were looking worse and worse for Leslie. If Matt didn't come to the rescue soon, she'd have to break Mello's nose.

**LESLIE**

Stupid Matt! If he doesn't hurry up, I'm going to have to kill Mello.

**MATT**

I've lost my goggles! I've lost my goggles! Aaah, what did I do with them last?

**L**

To be honest, I was surprised that Leslie has managed to go this long without loosing her cool and breaking Mello. He was saying some very hurtful things.

**MATT**

Maybe Mello knows where they are… I think I'll go ask him.

**LESLIE**

Thank the Lord! Here comes my Matt in shining armour! The look on his face says it all. Oh ho ho, my plan is perf –

_A day later…_

Mello broke my arm. That big sissy with girl hair actually broke my arm!! How dare he? Well, at least Matt is disgusted at Mello. Aside from the fact that, in Matt's own words, "You're not beating up that tomboy Leslie, you idiot! She's all girly now!" Mello stole Matt's beloved goggles and was planning to ransom them for chocolate. Now Mello's lost the only person that could put up with him, and I can go back to being "that tomboy Leslie". Hooray! Yet for some reason, I feel kind of bad…

**L**

After Mello broke Leslie's arm, Matt went troppo at Mello. He's usually pretty quiet, so it was kind of funny. Well, it was until Leslie started screaming, "Mello, you BEEP, you broke my BEEPing arm, you stupid son of a BEEP!" Even that was moderately funny, until Near and I discovered that Mello actually _had_ broken Leslie's arm. But Leslie's ok, and Rodger blew it at Mello. Plus, Matt won't talk to Mello at all now.

It's just that Mello hasn't left his room since that happened, which is odd, because that's what his punishment was, and usually Mello doesn't obey those punishments…

**Short chapter! I think I'll have more than 8… we'll see. And THANKYOU SPINNINGVORTEX!! It's an EPILOGUE at the end! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm on a roll! I think. Two things due on Tuesday, but I'll be ok. It's only RE and English. And I mean, English is writing, and I'm writing, so I'm technically practising English! Whoopie! **

Chapter 8: Apology Chocolate

**LESLIE**

Mello hasn't come out of his room in two days. Bread and jam have been missing from the kitchen so I guess he must be sneaking in these to eat when nobody's around.

I feel pretty bad. I mean, I wanted to make him suffer, but this is too much.

"Hey, he was asking for it," L had said to me when I'd told him how bad I felt.

"Maybe I should say something to him…"

"No way! He'll kill you if you come anywhere near him!" L had replied.

Near, who had been reading a book, looked up at the word 'near' and we all laughed and forgot about Mello. But now I think about it, maybe I should apologise. I feel pretty bad about the whole thing. It feels weird to go into maths and see Mello's seat empty. Nobody really seems to mind that he's just disappeared. That's Wammy's House for you. No such thing as TLC.

"Leslie?"

I look up. L is standing there with a bowl of curry for me. I hate hot foods, but I eat it anyway. It burns my mouth but I don't care. I feel rotten. I think I'll skip History.

"You're… eating curry. Something's up," he says.

"I have to say something to Mello. I have to. This is eating me up inside."

L starts to say something, but sees the look in my eyes and decides against it.

"Bring apology chocolate," he advises me.

I nod and grab a bar off Near who, since Mello has been shut up in his room, has taken to being the Official Wammy's House Chocolate Fiend. It seems fitting that he only eats white chocolate, though.

"Mine!"  
Near looks a little annoyed, but then shrugs and goes back to his pasta with no sauce – just cheese.

"Good luck!" L says as I trot off to Mello's room.

**L**

I turn to Near as soon as Leslie leaves.

"Are we honestly going to let her go to Mello's room without protection?" I ask him.

He turns and looks at me.

"That'd be the stupidest thing to do. But we can't interfere… maybe we should wait outside the door, in case Mello goes berserk!"

Even though we both knew that we wouldn't stand a chance against Mello if the need arose (Leslie could pin us both down without even sweating), there was some strange protectiveness we both felt over her, like she was something that was weak and needed help in the world. Maybe it was all those afternoons explaining algebra.

"Come on!"

We get up and dash off to Mello's room, thinking stupidly that we're needed.

**LESLIE**

I knock on Mello's door. I'm a little nervous. Maybe it's the _Keep Out – Or Die_ sign. Either way, it's too late to back out now.

"Go away!" a voice shouts from the inside. It breaks at the 'away' part, and I know that it has nothing to do with puberty.

"Mello?"

"Just _go away_!"

I open the door. There are no locks on bedroom doors here, just bathrooms. I think it's a fire policy.

The room is dark and the blinds are drawn. A single lamp in the far corner lights things up a little, but not much. There's a human-sized lump in the bed. I close the door behind me and sit on the chair at the desk. I put the chocolate on the bed.

"I brought you chocolate," I say.

"I don't care. I don't want anything to do with you."

I sigh and try and think of something to say.

"Mello… listen, I'm sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me. I just wanted to hurt you so _badly_. I didn't even stop to think."

Silence. Good, he was listening.

"I felt like you were turning people away from me. I had enough problems with friends back home, and I really wanted things to go well here, and I thought you were stuffing things up for me."

A hand reached out from under the blankets and felt around for the chocolate. I moved it so he could reach it. He found it and his hand withdrew back into the blankets. There was the sound of tin foil being opened and then the crack of somebody biting into chocolate.

"I've never had white chocolate before," Mello said suddenly, in a very small voice.

I decided not to tell him it was Near's. He had a bit of an inferiority complex when it came to Near.

"I'm glad I could help," I said.

I sat there for a while listening to him eat chocolate, glad that I'd done something right.

**L**

I never thought I'd be jealous of Mello, but that day has come. Maybe it has something to do with me being more than a little fond of Leslie. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but I think it involved Leslie apologising and Mello forgiving her. Yes, I was very jealous.

The door opens and I jump back. Leslie departs, smiling. Or at least, she was smiling until she noticed me and Near.  
"You guys!" she hisses. "What are you doing here?"

"Taking care of you. Mello is… unpredictable," I say.

"Well, thankyou, but I was fine. We had a little heart-to-heart and all is well."  
_Now_ I was angry. How dare Mello have "heart-to-heart" with Leslie? How dare he?  
I see red, and suddenly I'm running back to Mello's room. I don't even know what I'm doing.  
"L?" Leslie calls, but my blood is up. I'm going to rip that stupid un-deserving idiot _limb from limb_.

I burst through the door and crash into Mello, who was leaving. He frowns at me and I frown right back at him. I don't know what else to do, but I figure it out. I swing my arm around, straight into his nose. There's an awful crunch, and then I faint, because there's nothing else I can do.

**LESLIE**

"L!" I call after him as he runs off.

Oh no, what is he going to do? I exchange a glance with Near, and we begin to run after him, but it's too late. I hear a crunch, and then a thud. Oh gods, L, what have you done?  
We round the corner and find L passed out on the floor. Mello's face is covered in blood. His eyes are screwed up in pain. I whip off my jumper and offer it to him. He puts it to his face to stop the blood-flow.  
"Mello, I know you don't like Near, but you're not going to be able to get to sick-bay on your own," I say quickly. "Go on, get there quickly, before you pass out like this big idiot over here."  
They dash off and I'm left alone with L. I pick him up and chuck him over one shoulder. He's very light – worryingly so. Why didn't I notice that before?  
I figure that he fainted. It's a very L thing to do, faint after he punches somebody in the nose. At least, I figure L punched Mello in the nose. There's no way Mello would punch _himself _in the nose…

When I finally get to sick-bay, I'm greeted by a very unpleasant sight. The nurse, Sr Tabitha, is bending over a still figure, which I realise is Mello. Near, his entire front covered in blood, is sitting on a chair, exhausted. I dump L on another bed and sit next to Near.  
"What happened?" I ask.

"About three quarters – no, five sevenths – of the way here, Mello collapsed. I had to drag him. It wasn't very pleasant."

I look again at his bloodstained shirt.  
"Little wonder," I say.

Near stands up and dusts himself off.

"I'm going to have a bath. You're staying here?" he asks.

I nod and he walks away. Sr Tabitha looks over at me.  
"You know what happened here?" she asks me suspiciously.

"I have my guesses."  
L groans and sits up.  
"Ugh, how did I get here?" he moans.

"You look after that one," Sister says. "I'll finish patching Mello here up, and then come and see L. Goodness me, two in one day!"

I go over and sit on the bed next to L.

"Am I an idiot?"

"Yes, L, you are."

**I've been re-reading Death Note, especially the volume where some things happen at Wammy's. Hmmm… I should mention L's tennis abilities…**


	9. Chapter 9

**Will Mello's nose ever be the same? What will happen to L? Find out in this edition of…. WHAT ARE FRIENDS?**

Chapter 9: Nose

**LESLIE**

L stared up at me and I looked away. How could he honestly do something so _stupid_?  
"L…"  
I'm about to say something else when there's a low moan from Mello's bed. I get up and go over to the sister's side.

"Will he be okay?" I ask, a little worried.

"Oh, for sure, he's a big old drama queen," she assures me. I find her thick Irish accent very comforting.

"L punched me… ha, he actually punched me…" Mello mutters, still dazed.

"Hmm… well, I'll keep him in for observation overnight, but he should be fine."

I sigh in relief. The school nurse bustles away and I'm left alone with the semi-conscious blond.

"Ah, Mello, I'm so sorry," I say, because it sounds like the right thing to say.

"Heh, don't worry about it… how did I get here?"

"Uh…" He doesn't need to know about Near. "It doesn't matter. How are you feeling?""

"A brainiac nerd just got me in the nose. How do you think I feel?"

Good point. Being more… violent, I understood his mortification. Getting hurt by L is like getting beaten up by Bill Gates – demeaning.

"I'm sure it was just a lucky shot," I say.

"Hey!" L yells from his bed.

"Now, I have to go pretend to do maths homework," I tell Mello, really just wanting to get out of the room. I was feeling a little dizzy from the salty smell of blood that overpowered the sickbay.  
"Sure, go ahead."

I march out as quickly as I can, ignoring L. I think I'll take Near's advice and have a nice, long bath.

**L**

Ok, I _definitely_ shouldn't have punched Mello. Leslie's disgusted with me. I suppose my luck could only get worse if she remembers anything more about that art class. I've gotten a new sketchbook. I hide the one that I drew her in under my socks in my chest of draws. Foolproof!

**LESLIE**

I'll steal his socks first. I know it's a pretty obscures punishment, but I know how much L loves socks. I swear he goes to bed cuddling a pair. Or dozen.

I sneak into his room and tiptoe over to the chest of draws. There's little light and I crash into his desk twice (to my great embarrassment) before getting to the draws. I quickly and silently slid the top one open and feel through it. Hang on – paper?

I switch on a light. It's an art book. An art book? This seems familiar…

"_Lets see yours, then," I said, ignoring his comment._

"_No."_

"_Aww! Come __on__!"_

_I tried to sneak past him. He moved his sketch._

"_Come on, L, just show me the damned picture!"_

The deja-vu is overwhelming. I gather this must have been from when I passed out. Just why did I pass out? Maybe the answers were in here...  
Suddenly, I hear footsteps at the door. L must have decided to come back to his room. Oh crap. Crap-crap-crap! I throw the art book back into his chest of draws, slam the draw in and dive under the bed. I put my hand over my mouth to make my breathing quieter and pray. Hard.  
"Hmmm, light's on... well, maybe one of the maids was in here and cleaned up. The floor certainly seems less messy," a voice that could only belong to L mutters.  
I hear him shuffling about, looking for something. His hand reaches under the bed.  
"Now, where did I put the Mars bar?"  
I see the said chocolate next to my leg and quickly shift it to where his hand is about to reach. It gets it and withdraws.  
"Aha!"  
He leaves then, chomping as he goes. The light doesn't go off, even when I hear the click.  
"Light got me," he sighs, and switches it off properly.  
I wait a long, long time after he left. Then, finally, I creep out from under his bed, pinch the socks and promised myself I'd come back for the art book. Soon.

**L**

Something about the light on in my room worries me. It's not like the maids to leave it on, they're too good at what they do. And anyway, my room wasn't even that clean. Maybe whoever was cleaning it got called away...?  
I go to the wing where all the staff live and knock on the Head Maid's door. She opens it and looks down at me grumpily.  
"Can I help you, Young Master?" she asks, obviously frustrated at being disturbed.  
"I'm sorry for the interruption, but I was wondering if any of your maids had been called off duty while she was cleaning? You see, I was –"  
"No."  
"I – I'm sorry, are you _sure_? Because I was in my room, and – "  
"No."  
"Oh... ok, thankyou for your time!"  
She slams the door and I'm left outside feeling rather sad. Then, a brilliant idea! I have nobody to speak to, and nor does Matt! He can be my best friend!


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok, Chapter 10. I'm on a roll so this could go a little longer… maybe I'll make it like a project that never ends, like **_**The Neverending Story**_**! But that actually ended, which made me pretty grumpy, because the title lied. I hate that!**

**LESLIE**

I've been waiting outside Near's room for ages now. With Mello semi-conscious and L in my bad books, Near is my only option. Only problem, that bath of his is taking years.  
"Near! Oi! Hurry up in there! Some of us want to talk to you!" I yell, for the umpteenth time.  
"Relax, Leslie, I'm reading. Come back later."  
'Relaxed Near' is really pissing me off. I don't have time for this! There are things to do!  
"What are you reading, then, that's _so_ good?" I screech back at him.  
"A manga."  
"Called?"  
"Fruits Basket. Now leave me alone!"  
"Fine. I'll be in the library."  
I'm only leaving because I've gotten an attack of the giggles. Just the thought of Near reading _shojo_ in a bubble bath makes me want to throw myself down onto the floor and laugh until my sides fall off. Which ends up happening as soon as I'm out of earshot. Then I remember the situation on hand. I've skipped all my classes. Mello is practically in a coma. I'm disgusted with L, and knowing him he's probably gone and befriended Matt. Heh, they're probably playing _Halo 3_ right now. Or attempting to, in L's case.  
But, I'm bound to go to the library. I have an assessment task due next week, and there's no way I'm going into my class in the middle of the lesson. Heh, no way.  
The assessment is dull. It's about _soil_. SOIL! Of all things, we have to research _soil_. And worms. And deep-reaching plant roots. And the crusts of the earth.  
I sit in one of the little computer cubicles and plug my USB into the computer. I've made a good start into my work, when I'm distracted.  
"Hello! I'm done!"  
I turn around. Near, squeaky clean and dripping wet, is making a pool of water on the floor. Nobody cares. Near is The Wammy's House 'Golden Boy'. He can do no wrong. Because he is SO SMART! In fact, as Ms Ashlieen comes up with a mop, she's actually smiling at Near like an aunt would smile at a favourite nephew. Then she sees me, and the smile becomes fixed. I'm not popular with teachers.  
"Ah, hello Near, Leslie!" she beams.  
"Hello Ms Ashlieen," Near chirps. I ignore the woman.  
"Leslie, I heard you punched Mello."  
Oh god. Word gets around, doesn't it? And gets distorted!  
"No, that was L. I was just near them... right, Near? We were together, weren't we?"  
He nods, and Ms A glows happily. She bustles away with her mop, smiling happily.  
"Ugh! How do you stand that? All that simpering, and sucking up, just 'coz you're a brains. It'd drive me mad!"  
"Jealous?"  
Jealous? Me? Ha, no way!  
"No. You?"  
"No. Leslie, that's a stupid thing to say."  
I punch him jokingly on the arm, and nearly knock him over.  
"Well, at least you're weak. I can beat you at that," I say happily.  
"Gee, thanks a lot!" he sniffs, feigning offence.  
"No worries!"  
We sit in silence for a little while. The conversation has hit a slump and we're both thinking about L. Finally, Near mumbles that he needs his blank puzzle and slouches off to the games room. I try and pay attention to all the dirt information. To my chagrin, I've forgotten to include a bibliography. Crap! I decide not to go back to all the sites I used and just make up a few when Near comes running in, breathless.  
"You will _never_ guess what I just saw!"

**L  
**

Oh no. This is bad. Very bad. Now Near thinks... let me backtrack. I was playing _Halo 3_ with Matt. I was terrible at it but was feeling very self-satisfied. Then everything went wrong. We were having a good time, and jokingly sabotaging each other's games. I ran off with Matt's controller (its wireless – well, this _is_ Whammy's House). He pushed me over and I fell over, pulling him with me. He landed on top of me. Near came in.  
"Wha – wha – whoa..." the albino had panted, then rushed out of the room.  
"Oh, this isn't good," I said as I got up, quickly.  
"It's like a... soap opera!" Matt cried, sitting down hard on a chair.  
"How long do we have before we get gawkers?" I ask.  
"I dunno."  
Matt slumped lower into his chair. So did I. He moaned, covering his face with his hands.  
"Whoa, what are they _doing_ in there?" excited voices asked each other outside the door.  
"Can you see them?"  
"You don't think..."  
"No!!"  
"Don't let teachers know. Shhh."  
"Your phone has a camera, right?"  
"Haha, brilliant. I have a YouTube account, too."  
Matt and I exchanged glances.  
"What have we done?" we moaned.

**LESLIE**

"WHAT??"  
I jumped up from my chair, unbelieving and amazed.  
"Matt – and L? _L_? Freaky reclusive genius L? Oh lord... are you sure?"  
Near nodded grimly.  
"The mind reels," he muttered.  
"We have to fix this," I decided, moving towards the door. "Come on."  
I marched down the hall. Other students scattered in my wake. Near followed, hesitant.  
"What's _her _problem?"  
"I heard she was with L."  
I hit the person who said that last remark over the back of the head swiftly as I charged onwards. I stopped outside the door of the games room, which was blocked up with my curious peers. They turned to look at me, and then quickly moved aside. Slowly and silently, I creeped to the couch.  
"What have we done?" floated quietly over the top of it to me.  
Crap, crap, crap. What had they done?  
I tiptoes to the back of the couch, then, amazing even myself, grabbed L's collar and pulled him over the back of the sofa. He landed with a soft thud at my feet.  
"What is _wrong_ with you? First, you punch Mello, and now here you are, doing God knows what with Matt!"  
"Leslie, I – "  
"No, no, you listen to me. What is your problem? Has some switch in your brain flicked the wrong way and caused you to go troppo? I don't know, but you better cut it out and _make things right_."  
"Listen, it's not – "  
"Sort yourself out, L, ok."  
Then, to my greatest embarrassment, I began to tear up.  
"Oh _crap_," I muttered, turning away and 'blowing my nose'.  
I half walked, half ran out of the room, then. What on earth was wrong with me? I didn't cry. I wasn't they 'crying type'.  
Near stood a little way away from the crumpled L at the back of the couch.  
"Uh, uh, L, I think that maybe, uh, you should try and, um, fix, uh, stuff," he stammered, then hurried away after me.  
Other students began to come into the room, some cautiously, others unafraid and curious. One or two helped L up.

**L**

"Believe us, everybody, what you think you know isn't true! Contrary to popular opinion, L was _not_ taking off my shirt when Near came in, nor was he planning to. Nothing was happening," Matt announced.  
"I pushed him over, he had my game controller," I added.  
"Aww... boring."  
"Are you sure that's what happened?"  
"One exciting thing happens here, and it's nothing..."  
"Hey, hey, you guys, listen to this. Stuff like this, y'know, exciting stuff, _has only been happening since Leslie got here_! So, maybe, this is all her fault!"  
"How could this be Leslie's fault? It had nothing to do with her?"  
"Yeah, I guess..."  
"Well, I guess this is the first, and last time we'll see L doing something weird. Savour it."  
Evidently they hadn't heard about me and Mello, but they would, soon enough. How was I going to get out of this one?

**I took my time, didn't I? Oh well, I ****apologise****. Its winter here in Aus, and I get depressed. Plus, I just had a cold and tonsillitis at the exact same time. Snot everywhere. And I mean ****everywhere.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Oh my God, I actually forgot Leslie had a broken arm!! Oh noes… oh well, I guess it all fits… enough… I'll work it back into this chapter.**

Chapter 11 – Why Do I Keep Forgetting To Name My Chapters? I Give Up

**LESLIE**

And then things got worse. Much worse.  
"The nurse said I could come out, because I was being 'a gurt ould drama queen'. I'm dosed up on painkillers, as well, you know."

"M – Mello?" I spluttered. "What – you – Near, help – um – oh no…"

He frowned. Well, he had a plaster covering his nose, and obscuring most of his face, but his eyes were still visible, and by the way they crinkled up I could tell he was frowning.

"What's wrong? What's that freak got to do with anything?" he demanded, eyes now slitting.

"Uh… have a seat. Here." I passed him some chocolate. "You're going to need it."

Near was walking down the corridor, minding his own business (well, not really. He was actually eavesdropping, or attempting to), when a colossal, screeching "WHHHHAATT??" burst out of Leslie's room. He'd seen Mello go in and was worried for her safety.

"Him – L – _HALO 3_??"

"Near! Get in here, I know you're out there," I called, while tying a violently struggling Mello to a chair. "Get that rope out of my sock drawer, please. And the duct tape from my pillowcase. I know you know they're there."

Near did as he was bid, shifting aside the emergency Tic Tacs as he did so.

"Ignore those," I said sternly.

Suddenly, Mello slumped deep into his chair.

"Gree mumph yee gesst brennd iiyee ebber ad," he said sadly, muffled by my hand.

"Sorry?" I took my hand away.

"He was the best friend I ever had…"

"I'm sorry for you, Mello," Near said in a small voice from my bed.

Mello didn't say anything and stared unhappily at the floor.

"Not once did he ever complain when I'd come into his room at 3am on a chocolate high and hide in his wardrobe to get away from the gooby monsters…"

Near and I exchanged glances, but didn't say anything.

"And – and then there was that time when I broke the tap in his bathroom and flooded the entire corridor… and he t-took all the blame!"  
"That was _you_?" Near exclaimed, outraged.

I elbowed him in the ribs.

"Not helping!" I hissed.

Mello ignored the both of us and continued to stare at the floor, eating his chocolate.

"Will you be okay if I leave you for a moment?" I asked him, already pushing Near to the door.

He shrugged and nodded.

"What?" Near asked as soon as we were out of hearing.

"Get Matt! Now! Stat! On the double! ASAP! Are you following?" I snapped.

"Yeah, ok, relax, Leslie, I'm getting him."  
I pushed him in the general direction of the games room, hissing, "Now, hurry, quick-lee!"  
"But, why do you want him? I mean, how will it help? Mello might _kill him_," Near said with a grim look.

"Near, sometimes you're such a – a – just get Matt, please," I sighed.

He trotted off and I pinched the bridge of my nose and counted to 10, then went back in to see Mello, muttering that Near would most certainly be the death of me. Mello was still sitting on his chair, now ignoring the chocolate. It was then I knew something was very, deeply wrong.

"Listen, Mello," I said, sitting on the bed next to the chair. "I'm sure that Matt just felt sorry for L, and was maybe feeling a bit sorry for himself. With the whole goggles fiasco, and all…"

I grabbed my knitting from the bed, where I had discarded it.

"Here, an analogy for you. Life is like a knitted scarf. If one little pit pulls away it seems like the whole scarf has untwined, but really all it takes if a few moments to pick it apart and fix what you've done wrong. Easy. See?"

Mello looked up as I picked apart a bit of my scarf, near the edge. I pulled it apart, but fixed it just as easily. He sniffed, but looked a little happier.

"It's not just that," he muttered. "And what's with the scarf analogy?"

I shrugged and offered him a Tac. He shook his head and picked the chocolate off the floor.

"Thanks. But, Leslie…"

"Hm?"  
I swivelled to look at him.

"Can you please untie me?"

**L**

"Maaa-aaatt," a childish voice called. I knew that voice.

"Near!" I whispered to Matt.

"I wonder what he wants…" Matt pondered.

"It might be one of Leslie's evil schemes," I said, with good reason.

Matt shrugged.

"I don't think so. And anyway, what would _you_ know of evil? What have _you_ done that's so evil?"

"I – I've punched people…"

Matt's eyebrows shot up, and he sat up and threw away the banana he was eating.

"H – hey…" I muttered.

"Tell me! Who did you punch? When? _Why?_ Has this got something to do with Leslie's arm??" he asked, excited and curious.

"Well, no, not _really_," I said slowly, playing for time.

"Who? When?"  
"Just today," I answered, swallowing.

"Who?"  
"Oh… you wouldn't know them," I gulped.

"I think I might," Matt snapped, getting a bit annoyed with me.

I stood up and shook myself off, then waved to Near and pointed downwards. He nodded and walked over.

"Uh, uh, Matt?" he stuttered.

"Yes?"

"I, um, uh, can you please come with me, for a sec?" Near managed to choke out, before blushing. He really wasn't a people person.

Matt shrugged and stood up too.

"Why, what do you want, Near?"

"Ah, um, well, ah, Leslie can tell you that. Um, so can you please come? It's, uh, kinda urgent."

Matt followed Near and they both walked out the door, forgetting about me.

"H – hey," I called, not for the first time, and quickly followed them out of the room.

**LESLIE**

My arm was beginning to itch, but there was nothing I could do about it. I guess I should be glad I only had a half-cast, because I could still _do _things, like hitting, and pinning people down in chairs. And for that I was thankful.

"I'm just gonna be a sec, 'kay?" I said to Mello, wondering where Near had gotten to.

"'kay."

I stood up quickly and moved towards the door, just as Near and Matt burst into the room. Upon seeing Mello, Matt froze and I quickly closed the door behind him and stood in front of it, a human barrier between Matt and his escape.

"Mello."  
"Listen, I – I'm sorry, about all that stuff…"

I grabbed Near's arm and towed him out of the door.

"We'll give you a moment," I said sweetly, and dragged Near off down the corridor.

Where we bumped into L.

"Oh, hello," I said, cold as ice.

"I'm sorry."

That caught me off guard.

"W – what?"

"Sorry."  
"I know…"  
"No, you should say 'sorry' instead of 'what'," he said.

It took me a little while to grasp what he had said.

"L." I was struggling to keep my fury in check. "You're just putting your size 5 foot in your size 15 mouth again and again. Come on Near."

I grabbed the long-suffering Near and dragged him towards the cafeteria.

"Let's go eat," I growled.

"My feet aren't that small…" L said sadly.

**L**

And then I had a stroke of brilliance. It was so brilliant – too brilliant. I even shocked myself. This was going to work out so well…


	12. Chapter 12

**In this edition, many questions are answered! Find out why L didn't eat the ham with his melon (apart from the fact that that is so, so gross)! Discover **_**another**_** of Leslie's evil plans! Finally know the truth behind L's no-footwear thing, and his love of tea! Special guest appearance from Beyond Birthday! What more could you want?**

**LESLIE**

Keen eyes followed my progress across the hall. It was little wonder. I hadn't been to class in days, and I'd been the source of everything that had happened, right?

"Ow – Leslie, you're hurting my arm!"

"Oh, sorry Near," I said, and let go.

The red of my fingerprints quickly faded back to white on his pristine arm. I felt bad, but mainly for me, not for Near. He'd survive, but would I?

"L-Leslie, you're loading up your plate with ham, and nothing else…" Near spluttered, obviously worried for me.

"I guess I feel like ham."  
I took an olive and balanced it precariously on top, then made my way to an empty table. Near followed like a puppy dog.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" I asked Near as he sat down, foodless.

"Yeah, maybe. I might, actually. Wait – there was something I wanted to eat in my room. Hold on!"

He dashed off and I stirred my ham with a finger idly.

"Maybe he _does_ eat his toys," I wondered aloud.

**L**

"L!!" Near called, excited. "I was looking for you!"

"Oh, Near, yeah, um…" I replied, nervous all of a sudden.

His face fell, and I felt bad. Well, worse.

"What? What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing. I was just looking for you, and – "

"Leslie, yes, yes, I know. It's kind of obvious," he said speedily.

"Listen – I've got something I need to give her. A sorry present, and something I think she needs to see," I breathed.

"Ooh, what, what?" Near bobbed around me, but I didn't let him see the contents of the bag I held behind my back.

"You'll see when I give it to Les. Now please, where is she?" I asked, impatient.

Near gestured for me to follow and trotted off to the cafeteria. I followed him, and every step felt heavy. I was scared. At the door, I stopped. My throat was dry. I couldn't move.

"L, just go!"

Near pushed me in with all his might and I fell into the cafeteria. Dazed, I staggered up, and made the first eye contact with Leslie in days.

**LESLIE**

Seeing L seeing me seeing him gave me a fright. I panicked, and, like the idiot I am, threw my plate of ham at him.

"I'll never be able to eat ham again," I heard him say under his breath.

But he got back up and came to sit next to me.

"Hello, L," I said, not really ready to forgive him.

"Hey, I don't want you to forgive me, not yet. But please – have this."

He passed me a bag with a hard rectangular _something_ in it. It seemed familiar.

"Is this…?" I asked, my eyes full of wonder.

He nodded, and I withdrew it. It brought back so many memories.

"A Tic Tac Big Box? I didn't know you could get them here! Oh my god, thankyou, L!"

I threw my arms around him and he blushed.

"I'll even give you your socks back!" I cried.

"Don't worry, I'm used to it, now. I barely even wear shoes anymore," he said, happy.

"Wow…" I murmured, fighting back the tears. "Thankyou so, so much."

He got up, and returned with three cups of tea. Near perked up, but his eyes slitted at the sight of it. L dumped enough sugar to sink a ship into his, and I stirred in my milk happily, glad that everybody was getting along –

"Oh no! Matt and Mello!" I shrieked, jumping up. "I left them alone together! Oh, this is _not_ good… Come on!"

I sprinted out the door with L and Near hot on my heels. How could I be so stupid? How on earth could I honestly forget about those two?

I skidded to a halt outside the door. There was no sound coming from inside. What if they'd _killed_ each other?

"Matt!" I called out. "Mello? _Anybody_??"

I burst into the room. Nobody was in there. Actually, nothing was in there that I expected. No blood, no bone fragments…

"Where could they be?" I muttered to myself, frantic.

"Try Matt's room," Near suggested.

"Ok, ok, good idea. Near, go to Matt's room. L, go to the games room, maybe somebody will be in there playing _World of Warcraft_, and I'll go Mello's room. If you find them, or one of them, or anything, just give a shout. Literally."

Near and L nodded, but stood there.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"  
They scurried off and I turned to look at my room one last time. Nope, nothing.

**L**

There was not a sight of a Matt or a Mello as soon as I entered the games room. A young kid, whose name I didn't know, was sitting watching TV. He must've been about 7 or 8.

"Hey, what's your name?" I asked him, trying to be nice.

He ignored me.

"Have you seen a redhead with goggles or a slightly mad blonde, have you?"

He pointed to the door, angling his finger slightly to the left, but not once did he look up.

"Ok, thanks. Are you sure?"

He swivelled to face me and I saw a fairly familiar face. This was one of Wammy's resident nut-cases, so intent on becoming the best that they went mad.

"Oh, hey Beyond, sorry, I didn't see your face. Matt and Mello? Any one of them?" I said, surprised to see him out. He usually just sat in his room.

He nodded gravely and pointed again.

"Thanks!"

As I left, I heard a sickening laugh that chilled the very marrow of my bones. I shivered, and really agreed with everybody who said that he was insane.

**LESLIE**

Mello's room was as empty as chocolate shop on Easter. I decided to broaden my search, so I went down to see Matt's room. Knowing Near, he'd probably have analysed the place with a single sweep of his eyes and was now systematically searching all the hiding spots in it by the likelihood of it being successful.

"Near, how goes it?" I boomed from the door.

He jumped.

"Well, I started with that spot over there, which had an 86 chance of them hiding there, I've gone past 79, 75 and 67 chance spots, and I'm not at a hiding place with a likelihood of hiding them of 52."

I raised my eyebrows. He was like a robot, and I told him so. He just laughed.

"Where are you going to search now?" he asked.

"Food places. There's no point in looking in the classrooms, anyway, I had a report on soil due today and I'm not going into that room, no matter how great the chances of Mello being in there are," I said, frowning at the thought of Environmental Sciences class.

"3, I'd say. Chance that is," Near chirped.

"Yes, ok, thankyou. Have you heard from L?" I asked, huffily.

He shook his head.

"If you see him, send him to me, ok. I need his help," I ordered.

Near just nodded and went back to his painstakingly pedantic search.

"Anything else?" I asked, before I left.

"Yeah. You see that dark mass over there?"

I saw it, alright. It was about as high as Mello's bed, then half as high again. It was a mountain. I'd thought it was clothes, but…

"I see it. What is it?"

"_Chocolate_."

Looking again, I saw flashes of silver wrapping. I whistled lowly, and then grabbed a few blocks.

"What's your plan _this time_, Leslie?" Near asked, sighing heavily.

I just grinned.

"Oh, you'll see. I need L, though. Hee hee hee…"


	13. Chapter 13

Though I shudder to write it, this is Chapter 13

**Though I shudder to write it, this is Chapter 13. Yes, the chapter of all evils. Hmm, I can't see me quitting this too soon, so fans of the story, worry naught!**

**L**

I decided to double back to Matt's room, where Near would no doubt be analysing it to death.

"48, 47.5, ugh!"

Near was squinting angrily the spot beneath the bed.

"L! Excellent! What would you say is the likelihood of Matt and Mello hiding underneath the bed?" he asked me, eyes bright.

I shrugged and threw a wild guess.

"45? I dunno."

"Yes!" Near jumped up, excited. "That's _it!_ Thanks L – oh, and Les is looking for you. She'll be somewhere with food."

"Thankyou. If she comes past, tell her that I had no luck with the games room, and not to go in unless you want to be _seriously_ freaked out by Beyond Birthday."

Near gave a little shudder at the name, but continued his search. I said goodbye and left in search of Leslie.

**LESLIE**

With chocolate in hand and a rope over my shoulder, I went looking for the perfect spot to lay my trap. There was a place, I thought, that might work. It was a fairly central place, and if you wanted to get anywhere you had to go through there. It was kind of like a big dodecahedron, with a door on each of its twelve sides, one of them a big old double-door affair that lead out to the gardens. Anyway, there was an old light fitting to the side of the room. It was a big old brass thing, tough as nails, which would probably outlast civilisation. It must have been a chandelier once, and had curly bits going every which way. I stopped outside a linen closet and grabbed a king-size sheet. I had a few rocks, and tied them in the corners. That would be enough to weigh it down. In the middle, I tied the rope, and then hung it around the chandelier. I grabbed a small side-table and dumping the ornamental vase to the side, I positioned it underneath the light. Finally, frayed the end of the rope, put a last rock on it and arranged the chocolate over it so you'd have to grab the rock when you took the sweet. The sheet would come down on top of you, and that would give me enough time for me to spring out from behind one of the doors and grab them.

"Could Matt and Mello _please_ report to the entrance room, Matt and Mello," the PA crackled, in the nasally voice of the secretary. She liked chocolate too.

I knew the ropes wouldn't be noticed because they hung right next the wall, and nestled in next to the frame of a garishly bright picture. The walls, luckily, were almost the same brown as the rope. I allowed myself a small smile, and settled down behind the closest door. Now all I had to do was wait.

**L**

Leslie was obviously planning to get Mello and Matt cornered in the entrance room. She might need help. I mean, I may not be strong, but I can reason with them! And anyway, though I haven't mentioned it, I've been learning a bit of this martial art.

Of course, not once did it occur to me that Leslie might have been plotting, as she was wont to do.

I entered the entrance room and looked around for Leslie. I didn't see her, but I did see that somebody had carelessly left their chocolate lying on a table! Though I was no Mello, I _did_ quite like chocolate. It was sweet, after all.

"I _am_ lucky," I murmured to myself, under my breath.

I crossed the hall quite quickly, keeping me feet quiet in case Mello or Matt were around. I got to the table, reached out and took a bar.

**LESLIE**

Several things happened at once then. The sheet fell down with a great WOOSH, I burst out of my hiding place and jumped on top of it, and Matt and Mello walked casually into the room. I paled, and the two looked at me like I was insane.

"Caught a ghost, did you?" Matt joked, not unkindly.

"Hang on…" I said slowly, looking at the mummified figure I was squishing into the floor. "If you guys are there, who on earth is this?"

I said that, but I didn't get up.

"I'll take bets. I reckon that it's L," Mello said coolly, picking up some of the chocolate from where it lay, discarded on the floor.

"If it is…" I muttered, violently.

The figure under the sheet began quaking.

"What if it's Near?" Matt asked, equally calm.

"Come on, it was milk chocolate. Near wouldn't go for it."

"I guess you're right."

I took it my cue to jump off the sheet and reveal who lay underneath it. So I did.

_Several minutes later…_

**L**

Sister Tabitha is a very kind woman. She didn't even look twice when I arrived in the sick bay, covered in bruises. She just sat me down, and said, "You did something to Leslie, didn't you?"

I just nodded and winced.

"I ruined one of her traps."

"Ah. Well, I know a fair bit about Leslie-inflicted injuries, and she went _very_ easy on you, L."

"You think? It doesn't feel like it – ouch!"

She grabbed an icepack and put it to my head.

"Hold this, and don't be a sissy," she muttered, bustling around for various items of healing.

I sat there for a little while longer, but finally the sister shooed my off and I was sent away with an icepack to my head, feeling very sorry for myself.

I decided to go to class, where there would be no nasty surprises waiting for me. I knew that I had maths, so off I went.

**LESLIE  
**

I held my head in my hands and groaned.

"L is just – ugh, always in the wrong place at the right time, or in the right place at the wrong time… he just doesn't have any luck," I sighed. "It's not his fault, I know, but…"

"Well, maybe do something to take your mind off it," Mello suggested from the far corner of the room, where he was gathering the chocolate that had somehow spread all over the room.

"Yeah, go to whatever you have now," Matt added.

"Whatever _we_ have now," I corrected.

Mello snorted. "I'm not going to school for a week. I need to 'recover my emotions'."

I laughed. It was very easy to relax with Matt and Mello, once you got to know them. And once you wormed your way into 'the Circle of Trust', as I liked to call it.

"Well," I said, getting up. "I'm going. I think I have maths. Yeah, I do. I think it'll do me good to go and catch up on some school work."

I waved goodbye and they waved back. Maths wasn't very far away, and thankfully we kept our books at the back of the room.

The classroom was almost full once I got to it. I sat down in my seat, and was pretty relieved to see that L wasn't there. The teacher told us to open up our books, and I realised I hadn't grabbed mine from the back of the classroom.

"Go ahead," the teacher said when I asked.

As my back turned, I heard the door open, but I thought nothing of it. Until I turned around.

"L!" I shrieked, and dropped all my books. My compass stabbed me in the foot, and I swore quietly, focused on L.

"Leslie, what are you doing here?" L asked.

The teacher looked a little offended, and the rest of the kids just stared, but L and I ignored them anyway.

"We have no luck," we moaned identically.


	14. Chapter 14

**I don't really have anything to say here. My dog is kind of sick, and I've been writing a lot to take my mind off it. Two chapters in one day (12 & 13)! I'm so proud of that.**

**L**

Trust my luck. This would only happen to me.

"Trust my luck," Leslie grumbled, head bent as she gathered her stuff.

"Are you ok?" I asked, helping her pick up her things.

"I got stabbed in the foot with a compass."

"So _that's_ why you swore!" I said, happily.

"Yes, that is why I swore."

We sat down at the desk and class began. I understood it all, and Leslie seemed to get it enough to talk to me.

"I'm sorry about before," she apologised quietly.

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry."

"I – I know," I spluttered. "But –"

"Yeah. I just liked that plan. It was clever."

"It was. It would've gotten Mello."

"You think?"

"Definitely."

We sat in silence for a bit, looking at the teacher but not listening. Sunlight filtered in through the window. Leslie stared at it when she was done pretending to pay attention to the lesson, probably not thinking about anything.

**LESLIE**

I stared out the window, my mind going a mile a minute. Hang on – what was that?

"L," I whispered. "L, out the window, did you see that?"

"Hmm?"

"Window – something – oh my god…"

And there was Near, hanging upside down, by his feet, with a sign. I could see a pair of strong hands holding his feet as they lowered him down from the window above.

"It's Near!" L cried from my side, like I didn't know. "And he's got a sign."

_Hi Leslie, _it read. I waved. He passed the sign up and somebody passed down another one. _What are you doing in there? _I quickly scribbled _Learning_ onto my workbook and held it up. The signs were exchanged. _Get up here – we need you! _

"Why?" I mouthed silently, putting up my hands in a gesture of confusion.

The sign exchange happened again. _L too. Hurry!! _I nodded and so did L. Then I put up my hand.

"Yes, Leslie?" the teacher asked, turning to look at me.

"L's been annoying me."

"_L_?"

"Yes, L."

"…and?"

"Well, can't you punish him? Send him outside, or something?"

"Uh, ok. L, go stand outside."

L looked outraged, but I mouthed "Trust me".

"Oh, and sir?"

"What _now_, Leslie?"

"I need the toilet."

"Yes, alright, go."

I followed L out the door. He stepped quietly and I walked loudly so as not to attract any unwanted question of L's whereabouts. As soon as we were out of earshot, L sighed, annoyed.

"I wonder what they want," I thought aloud.

"Maybe Mello ran out of chocolate."

"Mello?"

L just looked at me.

"Oh, of _course_… who else could dangle Near upside-down from a second-story window?" I said, as it dawned upon me.

"Who else would _want _to dangle Near upside-down from a second-story window?" L added.

I nodded my head from side to side, agreeing.

"Anyway. Maybe somebody died? Matt? No, he must have been passing down the notes," I said, thinking aloud.

"I hope not. These past few days have been _weird_."  
"You're telling me?"

We reached the stairs to the second floor. They were big and marble. Normally I adored these stairs, but they were bothering me right now.

"We need an elevator," I grumbled.

**L**

Leslie didn't seem to be taking this so well. I tried to calm her down, and ended up making her so enraged that she sprinted up the stairs. Naturally, I pretended that I had meant to do that the whole time, and she bought it.

"Well, thankyou, then," she puffed, not looking very thankful at all. "Now just leave me here to die."

I heaved her up and on we continued. Leslie looked chipper now, and I realised she was just flattering me by letting me pull her up. It look us a little while to find the exact window where Matt, Mello and Near were, but it could've taken longer if it hadn't been for the snippets of conversation that floated down the hall to greet us.

"Uh, Mello? You can let me up now."

"Mmmmm… no thanks."

"Please? You can borrow my puzzles."

"Your generosity knows no bounds."

"That was sarcastic!"

We rounded a corner and there was the little group. Mello waved at us and Near wailed.

"If you're going to hold me here, both hands, please!" he begged.

"Who said anything about holding you?"

"Heeeelp!"

"Mello, let him up. He looks… well, I was about to say pale, but that's stupid, isn't it?" Matt interrupted.

Mello heaved a dramatic sigh and, still one handed, hauled Near back through the window. Near immediately rushed to a nearby pot plant in a corner and retched violently. Leslie went over to see if she could help him and I confronted Mello and Matt.

"So. What's happened?" I asked, while in the background Near wailed to Leslie about how "…it was so unfair and he would've let me fall, I _swear_, and I didn't even _want_ to do it, but because I'm smaller than him Mello made _me_ do it, I mean, we could have just lowered it down on a string…"

"Well…" Matt and Mello exchanged glances.

"Bad news. We were just walking along outside Rodger's office, when –" Matt began, but Mello cut him off.

"When my Rodger-phone rang. And we were _nowhere_ near his office. So anyway, my -"

"Sorry, your _what_?"

"My Rodger-phone. I once hid a phone in Rodger's office, and Matt programmed it so that whenever Rodger said a certain something or other, it would call me and I could listen into his conversation."

"You spy on Rodger…" I said slowly, still grasping the concept.

"Anyway, seeing as Leslie seems to be in the centre of trouble these days, Matt and I snuck in and added her name to the calling list. But, where was I?"

"Leslie's name called," Matt supplied.

"Yes! Leslie's name! Anyway, it came up with her name, so I picked up, and I've got the conversation saved…"

He grabbed a small silver mobile out of his pocket and began to fiddle with it.

"Ok, here it is. Leslie, get over here, we need you!"

Leslie, followed by an ill-looking Near, ambled over. I quickly explained about Mello's spying phone. Of course, Leslie's eyes lit up and she slapped Mello and Matt a high five for such a brilliant idea.

"I've got to remember that one," she sighed. "But what about the phone bill?"

Mello looked blank and I told her that Wammy's paid for _everything_. If you said that you needed three phones and 100 credit a month each, you got it.

"Really? Nobody ever told me this?" she spluttered.

"Well… I mean, the more likely you are to become a detective, the more you get," I told her, which was a nice way of saying, "The smarter you are at maths and stuff, the more free stuff you get."

Leslie may not have been smart at maths and things, but she wise, and street-smart, and she cottoned on to what I really meant in a flash.

"I don't really mind, because if I want anything, you guys can get it for me!" she said, cheerfully. "Because you're all pretty high up…"

"Yeah," Mello snarled, bitterly. "I'm second, _Near_ is first, Matt is third and L is in a class all his own."

"Genius class," Leslie replied, sagely.

"Anyway, can we please move on?" I suggested. "Let's hear the phone call."

Mello flipped open the phone and unceremoniously pressed play.

**My dog, Jerry, he's going to be just fine!! I'm really happy! :D**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15! Yay! I suppose I've kind of got an idea of how I want to finish it. We shall see. And don't expect too much from this chapter – temper tantrums and hot air is all you'll get, dear readers.**

**L**

"Brr brr, brr brr… Mello – pick up the phone! I did, you idiot! Shhh!!"

Rodger's voice filtered through.

"…and that's why I think it should happen _quickly_. She's been the source of many upsets. I even heard she punched Mello! And then, a broken arm… no, many, many upsets. More that I could tell you… you want me to try? Sir, I really think… no… are you sure? It's not a good idea… yes, I _know_ she has friends, but… no, sir, I'm not the one who runs this place, you are, I know, but… even so, if in the event we do have to move her… oh, I see… well, I suppose, if she wanted to keep in contact with her friends… no, I'm not suggesting Germany… what do you mean, that's my standard answer? I never said anything about Germany… Japan? What about... no, you're right… I don't know if she speaks any other languages… yes, I could check… but I thought you wanted to keep her in England, preferably in _this _institution, for her sake… what do you mean? This has nothing to do with shutting me up… you had no intention of moving her? Sir, please re-consider… no, I like my job, I'll let her stay… what? Pet project? Sir, the girl is, well, not that bright at the mathematical subjects, nor does she have artistic ability, like Linda, for example… languages? Let me check the database… oh my! This is rather… I'm sorry?... no, not Indonesian… uh, seven, sir. Yes, seven… yes, I agree, that _is_ rather extra-ordinary, not many people can speak seven different languages at her age… yes, I'm aware that that was obvious… so, hold off on the transfer? Maybe in a few years… depends on her language studies… but _what_? I mean, pardon… no, I suppose, but keeping her from her friends… meals delivered, you say?... hours on end learning different languages by herself… lonely… cruel? I don't know… oh, we could build a hut in the grounds, out of the way… yes, sir, I agree, it is a good idea… keep her un-distracted… forget about maths? But… well, yes, she can add up, and subtract… I dare say, sir, she needs more that that… she doesn't? Well, I suppose… no… alright, sir, I'll have it built soon as possible. Any specific foods you think would help her fight away the solitude and help her brain?... tuna… hmm, it could be done… alright, thankyou sir."

The phone recording cut out, and Leslie sat down, hard. Near rushed to the window, and pointed to a small area in the back of the grounds, shaded by trees and almost invisible, where a small house was already under construction.

"That was snappy of Rodger," Matt observed. "I'd say it should be done by the day after tomorrow."

"I don't want to be shut away by myself," Leslie said in a small voice, so small I almost didn't hear her.

I sat down next to her.

"We won't let it happen. We'll hide you in a closet and feed you macaroni through a hole," I joked. She still looked depressed.

I tried changing the subject.

"So, I didn't know you spoke seven different languages."

"Eight," she sniffed. "I learnt Indonesian a little while ago."

"So… what do you speak?" Near asked, coming over to sit on her other side.

"Indonesian, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Italian, Spanish and German," she replied, counting them off her fingers.

"What about English?" I asked.

"English doesn't count."

"So _that's_ why you're here…" I mused.

**LESLIE**

Even L's stinging comment couldn't distract me. I was going to be isolated, and kept alone, out of the way, with nobody to talk to but me. Living off tuna. In a little shack. Just me and my language books. Normally, that idea would appeal to me a little bit, well, back in the days before I really had anybody to talk to. I don't like England's climate, but the company is much better.

"…and living off tuna, well, that is harsh…" L said, looking at me sadly.

I stood up suddenly and angrily, feeling sorry for myself and, as you do, taking it our on people I like.

"Listen, can you _just shut up_? Stop treating me like – like some sort of terminal cancer patient! I won't go, I won't, and if they have to drag me kicking and screaming, well, I'll kick and scream with the best of them. I'm not giving up, and neither should you! There you are, moping about and feeling sorry for me! This shouldn't even be happening! You two, with your _spy phone_, ruining the last free moments of my life! Ignorance is bliss, sometimes! And Near, with your whiney 'I'm going to be sick' nonsense! And L…" My eyes narrowed and I took on a tone of pure hate. "_L_, with your genius 'so that's why you're here' remark. Because I'm too _dumb_ to associate with the brainiest and brightest! That'd be it, wouldn't it? Yes, it would! So just stop acting like the _spoilt brats you are_ and give me some support or never even _dare_ to associate with me again," I spat.

I didn't care that I contradicted myself a fair few times. I didn't care at all. I just turned around and walked away, calm and collected, surprising even myself. I heard the sound of somebody sucking in the air between their teeth awkwardly. Good. I hope I made them - all of them – very, very awkward. That would teach them.

But when I finished my proud strutting and collapsed on my bed, I felt the sudden urge to crawl up in a ball and cry. So, I did. Well, I wouldn't really call it crying – it was more frenzied sobbing that came straight from the heart.

"Why, why, _why_?" I moaned, pounding my pillow, as if that could somehow give me the answers that I looked for. Not that it could, and soon enough I realised that and lay flat on my bed, sniffing. Anyway, I didn't know what questions I was asking of the pillow in the first place.

Maybe I should go take a shower. The thought of the hot, steaming water trickling down my back was irresistible, and I was drawn to the bathroom like a moth to a lamp.

A few minutes later I was cooking away under the near-boiling spray. Deafening as the force of the water was (no water restrictions in England, which was a nice change to Australia) I could still hear the knock on my bedroom door. I realised that my sub-conscious had wanted to drown out assistance and had gotten me to take a shower and make it loud. I ignored the knock. It seemed the right thing to do.

"Leslie, and you okay in there?"

Oh, no. It was L.

"Uh, uh, I'm fine!" I called back.

"Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure!"

I decided to remain in the shower, just to vex him. I heard the door opening and the sound of somebody sitting down on the bed.

"Leslie?" he asked.

I turned the water off and sat down, breathing in the steam. I never turned the fan on – what was a shower without steam?

"I'm in here. What do you want?"

I heard the sound of somebody getting up. He was standing by the door, now.

"Can I come in?"

"What? No!" I cried, indignant. "Tell me what you want, or get out."

"Why can't I come in?"

"**What do you want?!"**

"I want to know why I can't come in."

"Because I'm in the bloody shower!"

"… I don't hear any water."

To be honest, I was getting a little freaked out at this point. I said so, and L just laughed.

"I'm just teasing. Come on, dry yourself off and come out here and talk to me."

"No can do."

"Why?"

I decided not to tell him that a majority of my clothes lay strewn across the floor about a metre behind him, where hopefully he wouldn't look.

"That's between me and the shower," I said, cunning.

"You took a shower with clothes on?" L asked, dryly.

"At the start…"

There, that should give him reason.  
"I don't like wet clothes," I added.

"Then why take a shower with clothes on?"

That was L. Cool, calculating and frustratingly calm.

"Ok, you called my bluff. Look behind you," I sighed. I'd given up.

Silence, then a small, "Oooh, okay."

"Yes. So, tell me what you want. Why on earth are you here?" I demanded.

"Yeah, well… we were thinking, and, well, we may have an idea of how you could escape."

"And what's that?" I asked, politely.

"_Run_."


	16. Chapter 16

Told you not to expect anything

**I'm not really one for dedications, but I think some praise must go to everybody that had reviewed, faved or put me on Story Alert or Author Alert. It really gives a girl confidence! So thankyou very much! :) I would like to add an EXTRA SPECIAL thanks to spinningvortex who has reviewed a lot, which makes me happy.**

**L**

"I – I beg your pardon?" Leslie stammered, shocked.

I leaned against the door frame.  
"Yeah, run. There's this mass-murderer in Japan – nothing serious, but it's a bit of a sore spot for Near and Mello. You know, whole inferiority complex thing?"

"Mmm… I'm sorry, what has this got to do with anything?"

"Mello's running away to America."

"And you want me to go with him," came the flat reply.

"We all do."

The door opened and Leslie – wrapped up in about five towels and a bath mat – scowled up at me.

"You want me to run like a complete coward –"

"Like Mello."

"Like a _complete and utter coward_ –"

"That's harsh, Leslie."

"Stop that! You want me to run away to America like some sort of wimp?"

"_We_ want you to."

"I cannot believe this!" she cried, sitting down on her bed.

"You wanna be locked up in a shed learning French?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"Ugh, I once tried learning French. The Language of Love didn't suit me," she complained.

I cringed, but she didn't notice.

"Do you speak it well?" I asked.

"Not really."

"Say… I like beans on toast."

"Noo."

"Go on, say it!" I teased, grinning.

"Fine," she sulked. "_J'aime les haricots sur des toasts_."

"You can speak it! That's ten!"

"Don't change the subject."

"Alright, okay. But, I mean, you can always write, or call, or fax…"

Leslie looked down at the floor.

"I don't want to run," she sighed, simply. "But I have to, don't I?"

I nodded, sadly.

"Well," she said briskly, standing up. "How long do I have?"

**LESLIE**

I ignored the crashing defeat inside me and looked away. At the door. At Near.

"Near! Who are you, the messenger boy? What are you –" I exclaimed, happily, but he cut me off.

"Hurry, Leslie. There's no time to wait for Mello. Your very sanity is in danger. They've finished building the shed."

I swore. How could they do it so quickly? As if in answer to my question, Near gasped out, "I've been running… they brought in a shed, pre-built. They _knew about Mello's phone_! Rodger called him, just now!"

I swore again, more violently this time. L cringed at my words, but I ignored him.

"Get out!" I yelled at the boys, scooping my clothes up from the floor.

They were barely gone when I began flinging on my stuff, and then shoving clothes and things into a bag.

"Hurry _up_, Leslie!" somebody – Near or L, I couldn't tell – called from outside the door.

I swore a bit more and ran outside to meet them.

And there stood Rodger. Looking surprisingly like Darth Vader or a Ring Wraith. I stood proud, Éowyn style, and frowned up at him.

"Come on," he said. "And this is orders from above, so I'm sorry."

**L**

Well, as promised, Leslie kicked and screamed the whole way. The entire orphanage turned out to see her go. Her eyes were wild and I swear she was foaming at the mouth.

"You see?" she shrieked, like a mad person. "You **see**?! Look at what they do in this hell-hole! I'm being sentenced, ladies and gentlemen, to that hut, over there, where I'm going to be _forced_ to learn languages! This isn't legal! I'll get out! Ha, and then I'll be gone, gone like smoke in the breeze, you'll never see me again! I'll go somewhere an – mmmph! Yrrrrmph grrrrrrmph hhhhhhrrrrrrr!!"

At that point a piece of cloth was forced over her mouth, but she protested all the way to her new exile. When she had been finally forced in (it took a while), Rodger came out and addressed us all.

"She was a bit… well, crazy. She was messing up everything. Sorry about that. Go back to your studies, and go nowhere near her. That is all."

I went and sat with Near, Mello and Matt.

"We tried everything," Near murmured.

"I still can't believe he knew about the phone!" Mello erupted.

"Shh," Matt warned, and then looked at me, as if to see if I had anything to contribute.

"Well, we can't just _leave_ her in there, can we?" I asked.

"No, we can't," Mello agreed.

"What can we do?"

"Think about it. We can… tunnel her out!"

Everybody turned to me.

"_Brilliant_, L!"

"That's actually a pretty good plan."

**LESLIE**

As I could see, I was faced with three immediate dangers. Number One: Insanity. Number Two: Starvation (I hated tuna). Number Three: French.

As I lay on my new, hard bed, and wished for a window, I wondered how the others were doing. Already I missed them, but I knew I'd never be able to see them, normally, in Wammy's ever again. I'd never be able to get out. How would I?  
Then it struck me. The solution was so obvious. I'd tunnel my way out. The French book looked like it'd make the perfect shovel. It wasn't hard to pry loose some floorboards under my bed, and then I began working. All I needed to do was tunnel down and under the side of my prison, then back up. Easy.

Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought.

"Dammit… I've barely scraped a bowl-sized – oh no. Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness!"

I told myself to shut up, and then continued digging.

"But they never tell us the second sign – oh, for the love of God!"

I hastily threw the improvised shovel into the hole, covered it with the floorboards, moved my bed back and sat down on it. I couldn't do this. It was so, so hopeless. Annoyingly, I felt the tears coming and I lay down on the bed, face first, and let the pillow soak up my misery. Despite everything that had happened, I missed them. I couldn't believe myself. They were like my family, I guess, my weird family, and now I'd been cruelly wrenched apart from them. It wasn't fair.

I looked at my hastily packed bag, which had come with me. Looking for comfort, or preferably, food, I found a very familiar blanket.

"Oh my God," I sobbed. "I'll go insane in two days."

And I let myself over to grief until the little chink of light that came in under the door faded to darkness.

My body-clock told me it must be around 1am. I realised I must have fallen asleep, and cursed myself. I should go on a sleep strike. Then I realised that there was some sort of hubbub outside. A quiet, whispered one, but a hubbub nonetheless.

"You _idiot_, pasta won't fit!" snapped the first voice.

"Oh yes it will!" the second voice replied, indignant.

"You guys," a third wailed. "Shhh."

"No, _you_ shush!" the first voice grumbled. They all began to argue.

"Uh, hello?" I called. "Who is that out there?"

"Leslie?" the second voice asked, hesitant. I knew that voice now.

"Near! Oh my God, _Near_! Who else is out there?"

"Mello."

"Matt."

"No L?" I inquired.

"Nah, we didn't have enough dark clothes for a third person," Matt's voice told me.

"I still don't reckon Near should have come," Mello muttered furiously. "He shines like a beacon in the dark, he's so goddamn pale."

"Even after all the dirt you rubbed on me?"  
"Please, Mello, Near. Okay. Why are you here?" I asked.

"To give you gifts! Here."

A few bars of chocolate slid under the thin gap under the door. I lay flat and saw three reassuring pairs of eyes looking back at me.

"Next!"

A small, black Nintendo DS slid towards me.

"Matt – your DS!" I cried, albeit quietly.

"Yeah, well, you need it more. Pokemon Pearl is in there, and…"

There was the sound of somebody fumbling around for something, and then Mario Kart shot through to hit me between the eyes.

"Ow," I moaned, though it didn't really hurt. "Thanks, though."

Finally, Near happily fed a thin container of pasta under the door.

"Told you so, Mello."

"Your pasta sucks."

"Thankyou, Near," I said, as loudly as I dared. "Thanks all of you."

"S'ok. Oh, oh, I nearly forgot!" Mello pushed a few books to me. After a bit of a fight, he managed to squeeze them through.

"From L," he explained. "Well, plundered from you."

I saw my beloved Lord of the Rings books before me.

"Excellent!" I sighed. "Hey, can I make a list of some things you could get me?"

"Sure."

"A portable DVD player, and some good DVDs… uh, and The Hobbit, while you're at it. Thankyou, again and again."

"No trouble. We'll get that to you ASAP. Now, we can't visit every night, but whenever we can, we will," Near told me. "Better go. I'll say hi to L for you?"

"Please."

They left and I was alone again, but I was happier, and that meant a great deal to me.


	17. Chapter 17

**Well, I've got an idea for what I'm going to do next as my long story. A cross-over, would you believe it? Anyway, I won't say anything much, but I've got a few ideas that might be entertaining… heh heh heh…**

**L**

I'd been digging for an hour straight, and had decided that tunnelling was not my thing. I got out of the hole and re-consulted the map on Wammy's House's floor-plan. I didn't even ask Near how on earth he got hold of it. The red texta mark showed how we were supposed to dig, and then tunnel from HQ (which was my room, for some reason) to Leslie's exile.

"Listen," Mello had snapped, after snatching the red Sharpie from Near, "You guys are doing it _all wrong_! Haven't you ever read that book on how to tunnel effectively?"

Only Near raised his hand. Mello muttered something about being a better reader, but continued scribbling about with the Sharpie, penning down lengths and depths to avoid cables and the water pipes. After a lot of argument we, well, Near and Mello (I'd gone to plunder Leslie's bookshelf and Matt had turned to his PSP) decided on a path, and I was decided to take the first hour shift of digging.

"Maa-aatt!" I called, dusting myself off in vain and putting down the shovel.

He stuck his head round the door.

"I'm gonna go clean up," I told him, heading to the bathroom.

Matt frowned at the hole and the shovel, and then at my dirt-stained shirt. He then shuddered at the thought of physical labour and saved his game.

**LESLIE**

I lay on the floor of my room, alternating between playing Pokemon and reading Lord of the Rings. A half-eaten bar of chocolate lay next to me. The other two were under another floorboard, under my bed, with the pasta, rations for another day. On my other side a plate full of tuna lay, looking disgusting. I'd taken the bottle of water they'd given me, had a sip, then put it with the rest of my hidden supplies – stuff for when I ran away.

"It's getting more and more like a concentration camp," I sighed, having long ago given up not talking to myself. "I'm surprised that this is legal. Probably not."

I put the DS and the books away, re-hid the sweet and lay on my bed, tossing balled up socks at the roof, then catching them. I hated to say it, but my French books were looking pretty good right now. I got up and had a look through them.

"What's this?" I asked, finding a different language book. "… Thai… meh, give it a go."

I sat at the desk and began learning the language furiously. My mind was well-suited to language study. By the end of the day I had already gotten down basic sentence structure and the particles.

I leaned back on my chair. I was a bit worried. I had been almost… happy, today, when I was learning a new language. That was concerning. I was supposed to be depressed, and lonely. Wasn't I?

"Yes, I am. I'm an idiot. I need to get out of here, and run away," I told myself. Naturally, the immediate problems arose. How was I going to make any money? Well, I'd answered that one for myself last night. I'd work translating books or something. I knew enough languages and I'd never have to show my face. However, I had no idea how on earth I was going to get a place to live. And living expenses would take their tole. Not to mention I had to get out of England. How was I going to achieve that? I couldn't walk to Wales. Not that I thought I would have much luck in Wales. My next thought had been swimming to France, but there would be French _everywhere_ in France. Not a great thing. Scotland… well, walking to Glasgow was a worse idea than Wales. So walking and swimming were gone, which also rules out Ireland.

"I need plane tickets," I sighed. "And how am I going to get those?"

**L**

Matt had made a sizeable edition to my efforts, and Mello had squared the whole thing off. We were pretty proud of ourselves. However, Near was not built for… well, anything to do with muscles.

"Stop _watching me_," he moaned after half an hour.

"We're not," Mello answered, looking straight at him. "We're staring."

"Why?" Near asked crossly, sweat dripping down his face.

I got up and turned on the air conditioner. He flashed me a smile.

"It's interesting to see you fail," Mello said, like Near was a huge spider that had been pinned to one of those bug-boards you see in museums. Rodger has a few. "It's got a macabre fascination to it."

Near just shook his head at Mello and continued digging.

"You're like a helpless fly. Y'know, one with its wings pulled off…"

"Mello…"

"…crawling about desperately on the floor…"

"Oh, come on…"

"…it's great…"

Matt frowned as the two argued, as if a puzzling thought had just come into his brain.

"You guys, shut up," he said, very suddenly.

"What??" "Excuse me?" Mello and Near both swung their heads to look at him.

"I just thought… we're working on getting Leslie out, yes?" he continued.

"Naturally."

"Uh-huh."

"Duh, you idiot."

"But what happens _when_ she'd out?"

Matt had a point. We all lapsed into silence.

"She could walk to Wales," Mello said after a long time. "Or Scotland. Glasgow, maybe."

"Or swim to France," I said.

"She could swim to Ireland!" Near added.

"I bet she's already gone through those," Matt said. "And realised how dumb they are."

"Thanks."

"No, but think about it. She can't stay in England. There'll be police after her. They could dress her up as a psychopath – metaphorically speaking, Near – and have everybody in the country after her… I don't think she can stay in Britain. Or even Europe, maybe."

"You're right, Matt," I said, glumly.

"What about the Eurostar?" Near suggested, suddenly.

"She hates French, Near," I told him.  
"So? She doesn't have to _stay_ there. She could go to Italy, or even Asia. She likes Japanese, right? Well, airfares would be cheaper from Paris, right?" Near was really getting into this idea. He'd forgotten all about tunnelling.

"Matt, your phone internet's the fastest – get us those fares, stat!" Mello rapped out.

"Uh, well, from London to Tokyo it's about £960 one way, and from Paris to Tokyo its £940 one way… but if you add the price of the Eurostar… Near, that's stupid. It's, like, £150 to travel on the Eurostar," Matt answered, without looking up from his phone.

"Ok, scrap that. But where are we going to get almost £1000?" Near asked.

"That _is _a problem," I said slowly. "I mean, we can't just go up to Rodger and ask for a bunch of money. He'd get suspicious."

"And she'll need more than airfares. She'd need a apartment, and stuff, and food money, at least until she can get a job."

"You're right, Mello. She could probably translate something. Matt, what do you think?"

We all turned to him. He snapped his phone shut and went red.

"Sorry, but I just found a site where you can get episodes of _Neighbours_ that haven't been aired here yet. Somebody in Australia's been putting them up, and –"

Mello hit Matt over the back of the head and grabbed his phone off him.

"You idiot! This isn't time for _Neighbours_! We have other Australians to care about than those idiots Carl and Susan!"

"What about Paul?"

"This has nothing to do with Paul!!"

"Then why drag Carl and Susan into this –"

"Oh, you guys, _come on_!" I cried, throwing a shoe at them. They split up, Mello rubbing his head. "We have to focus on getting money! And lots of it. Any ideas?"

Everybody looked blank and I realised this was going to be a _lot_ harder than it looked.

**A apologise if I stuffed the prices. I have never used pounds, I have never caught the Eurostar, I do not live in Europe, I have not been to Japan. Well, I lived in England when I was, what, 2, so I guess I kind of have **_**been around**_** pounds, but that doesn't count.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I can't really think of anything to say here. But I just found out that in England you're only up to that bit with Rachel and Angus in **_**Neighbours**_**! Heeheehee… **

**LESLIE**

The power on Matt's DS died last night, and I'm finishing just _Return of the King_. I'm worried. It's been one week since my visit from the guys, and in that period of time I've been forced to eat tuna. I nearly vomited.

"It's ok," I told myself. "They're ok. They have to be ok. Ok?"

I kept telling myself that, but it wasn't working. I bet they've been caught. I bet it. All because of me. I couldn't dig anymore, or they'd get blamed for my escape. I'd have to sit here, and learn more languages.

"Psst – Leslie!"

I jumped off my bed and threw myself at the crack under the door.

"Near?" I asked, excited.

"Yup. I have some stuff for you."

"Wait a moment. The DS ran out of batteries last night, and –"

"It's ok, I have the charger. You can plug it into the socket for your lamp, yes?"

"No light…"

"At night? You don't need it."

I shrugged and took the charger he passed to me. It was followed by some more chocolate and lot of pasta flat-packs. _The Hobbit_ squished through afterwards.

"As for the DVD player, we'll get that to you as soon as we can figure out why it isn't working," he explained. "But here's the charger."

"Can I have some veggies next time you visit, please?" I asked. "I haven't seen a carrot in eons. It's all tuna. And that's not a vegetable."

"I know. Listen, I have to go. Things are a bit difficult right now…"

"Understood. Pass this on."

I gave him the note that I'd been saving up for when there was the next visit, and said goodbye.

**L**

"I have a note from Leslie!" Near cried, running in.  
"Have you read it?" Mello accused.

Near shook his head. "I'll read it out to you."

Even Matt looked up from his struggle to get the portable DVD player working.

"Hello everybody. It's not much fun in here. That's probably pretty obvious. I guess you could tell that. I'm writing this because you may or may not have much time for small talk next time you visit, and I want to say hi properly. Sounds fair enough to me! Anyway, I hope you're all doing okay. Please don't do anything stupid, like trying to tunnel to me. That's a very typical thing I think you would do. And it's stupid. **I'm not worth it**, ok. Well, I'm glad we're clear on that. See you soon (not), Les. P.S.: Can you please get me _X-Files_?"

"How did she know?" Mello stage-whispered, looking worried.

"We're not stopping," I said, stubbornly.

"Nah, what did you think?" Mello replied, savagely. "I'm not just giving up on her! Now – progress report! L, how's the tunnel?"

"Mello, you're in charge of the tunnel," I sighed. "But it's doing pretty well. We're about a 7th of the way there."

"We don't have the time! Leslie will go insane! Double everything! I want half-hour shifts with the same amount of work, 24 hours a day!"

"Yes, sir," I muttered, but Mello was already barking at Matt.

"How's that DVD player coming along?"

"Fine. It's almost there."

"Good. And Near – uh, Near… how's things?"

"What _is_ my job?" Near asked us.

"Uh…"

"That would be…"

"L, what's Near's job?"

"Communications!" I decided. "You have to think of better ways to get more stuff to her, and things."

"What about a walkie-talkie type thing? Her mobile was taken off her," Near suggested.

"Perfect! And we can't keep feeding her chocolate and pasta. Get cracking on ideas!"

"Artful," Matt whispered to me as he walked past.

"Well, thankyou."

"And me, how is money raising going?" Mello asked himself. "Well, not that great. After raiding everybody's rooms, I've got £438… not nearly enough. I might be able to get £50 off Rodger… well, if we _all_ get £50 off him that'll get us £638. Not enough."

"Well, why don't we ask Leslie if we can sell anything of hers?" I suggested.

"Brilliant! Near, get that down and ask her."

**LESLIE**

I had a plan. I'd go to Japan, and somehow live there, translating to my heart's content. It was just over 3 years until I was a legal adult, anyway. Well, a legal adult in Australia. I didn't know about Japan, or England, for that matter.

"Ah, Leslie, you _are_ a clever one," I told myself. "But I should've asked Near for _Bones_ as well… oh well."

I was pacing my room, almost jogging. I didn't want to get unfit, not when I didn't know when I'd need to run.

That's when I heard the thumping. It was very faint, and very far away, but I was sure I could hear something. It sounded like somebody was digging a tunnel, but it was hard to tell. I immediately thought of the quartet and how they would probably tunnel. I banged on the floor, hard, rapping out a Morse Code message. That was just a code. Easy.

_Do not tunnel, idiots._

Silence, then renewed sound. But in Morse.

_Try and make us._

Oooh, trying to sound threatening, eh?

_Sure._

_How?_

_Like I would tell._

_You have no idea, do you?_

_Fine._

_Near will send you a walkie talkie._

_Thankyou._

That short conversation took a little while, mainly due to the fact that I had to keep thumping out, _What was that?_, when I couldn't quite hear what the message was. Morse wasn't the best, or the quickest, mode of communication.

"A walkie-talkie would be interesting," I said to myself, going back to my Thai books. "Certainly an update on the current communications."

I glanced at the half-written letter I'd started. I could quite clearly see the start of the message, because I'd written it in urgent capitals.

"'Stop tunnelling, you idiots.' Stop tunnelling, indeed," I murmured, not really thinking about anything. "I wonder how they're holding up. I wonder how their tunnel is holding up."

I looked again to where I had heard the noises. I knew they would tunnel, no matter what, and there was no point in my trying to stop them. So maybe I should try and help them…

**L**

"Mello, what is it?" I asked urgently as he came scrabbling out of the tunnel.

"I just spoke to Leslie."

"_What_?"

"Yeah, Morse."

"Oh. What did she say?"

Mello repeated the message and I sighed, rubbing my head.

"You could have said something else," I said.

"Like what?" he challenged.

"Something… motivational."

"What?" Mello snorted. "Should I have tapped out _Holy Grail_ or something?"

"Nah, I guess not," I replied.

"What we need is so focus on getting money, not getting motivation," Mello grumbled. "We only have… what _do_ we have?" Matt began, but stopped.

"Well, we all got that £50 each from Rodger for 'supplies for an assignment', yeah? So that's £630, ish," Mello told him, his face going a bit sour.

"Not good. Near, contact Leslie on the selling thing, ok?"

"Ok, L," he said, and wrote it down on a Post-it note. How organised of him.

"You could have asked her," I told Mello, but he was already off somewhere.

"Mello?" Matt called down the hall.

"I'll be back soon," he replied, and was gone.


	19. Chapter 19

**I never expected to have a Chapter 19. Things are definitely winding up, everybody. I'm pretty sad, actually. But it's not over yet! Oh no!**

**LESLIE**

"Hello… hello? Listen – you're breaking up… no, don't yell, it doesn't help… _you are breaking up_!! Oh god, I give up!!"

I threw 'Near's brilliant idea' at my bed. 20-odd days of solitary confinement didn't do wonders for anybody, let alone me. My temper was short. I was living off pasta. I wanted to kill something. Badly.

"Reflie," the walkie-talkie crackled. "Reflie, carrkzzz drrrrn."

"I am calm!!" I screeched, ignoring sense. "I'm as calm as could be, in the situation!!"

I heard something that could have been static, could have been whispering, in the background.

"Wrrr ramoss rhere. Srray carm."

They'd said that before. I took it as "we're almost there", but you could never tell. In a fit of temper I switched it off and sat down on the floor, hard. That hurt, but pain was a nice change. Very nice.

I put my head in my hands and tried to imagine things differently. I'd been doing that a lot lately. I'd even started to think it was the Second Sign of Madness.

"Oh no, it's grown capitals," I moaned. "Not capitals!"

But I knew now that if I didn't get out of here soon, I'd actually go insane. Literally.

**L**

"I've got the money!" Near cried, running into the room.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Really, Near?"

"Yup!" he said, excited. "I sold Leslie's bed! Guess how!"

"You took pictures of it into _Antiques Roadshow_," Mello guessed, sarcasm colouring his voice.

Near was so happy he slapped Mello a high five instead of getting annoyed with him.

"You bet! Who would've guessed it! Her bed was an antique, and it was worth £5,000!"

"No way," Matt murmured. "D'you reckon _my_ bed is worth that much?"

Near shrugged.

"I'm telling you, never underestimate tv shows like that," Near said, holding the cash proudly.

"That means we've got just over £10,000!" I told them. "Though Mello, you really shouldn't have told those poor Irish people that the bookcase was from 1701."

Mello shrugged. "If they're that gullible, they deserve to be cheated out of their money."

"I don't really think so…" Near began, but was cut off by Mello.

"Anyway, I don't think it really matters. What matters is that we _have_ the £10,000. That's ¥2,129,545.77, according to Matt."

Matt held up his phone, grinning.

"That's a lot of money…" I said, slowly.

"Is it?" Near asked. "I mean, yen and pounds are very different things…"

"Well, let's put it this way. We take off £1000 for travel. Ok."

I took £1000 of Near and put it under the mattress.

"There, gone," I said.

That was a very lucky thing to happen, because a few seconds after that happened Rodger walked into the room with an almost pained expression.

"Oh, hi Rodger!" Near exclaimed, putting on his I'm-your-favourite-so-don't-get-me-into-trouble face.

"Ah, hello Near. What is it you have there?" Rodger asked.

What a stupid question. We all knew that he knew what Near was holding.

"This?"

"Yes, that."

Near thinks fast, I'll give him that. "Monopoly money."

"I'm sorry?"

"We were playing Monopoly, and I'm banker."

"Yeah," Matt said, backing him up. "Monopoly."

"I don't see a Monopoly board."

"…uh… about that…"

Near shuffled his feet, and then blurted out, "It's for charity!!"

Rodger looked taken aback. I couldn't believe it, but it _looked_ like he'd bought it.

"Well then. That's excellent. What charity?"

"Oh. Charity… yes. It was the… one with the people that, uh, helped the homeless, and, um, gave them soup. You know?" Near spluttered.

If Rodger had even believed him a little bit, he didn't now.

"Well, I'll take care of it. Give the money to me, Near."

Near shook his head wordlessly.

"Near… I'm warning you."

He shook his head again.

"Ok, I'll make you a deal. You give me that money and I'll give you this letter for Leslie from… Goodwill Estates. Deal? It's in some other language, and nobody knows what it is, so it's no use to me."

I was about to shout "NO" as loud as I could when I heard something. Faintly at first, but it got louder. It was a simple message vibrating through the floor. In Morse.

_Take-it-take-it-take-it-take-it-take-it-take-it-take-it-take-it _etc etc.

Then I realised that we had left the walkie-talkie on. And that it must be something that she knew about. I took the money out of Near's hands and gave it to Rodger, then snatched the letter off him. Near looked shocked. Mello looked outraged. Matt looked confused. Even Rodger looked quite surprised.

"Uh, yes. Well, thankyou, L. Uh, yes. Goodbye," he said, and left quickly.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Near, Mello and Matt rounded on my with flashing eyes.

"_Why did you do that_?" Mello hissed. "Traitor!"

"Well, actually, no. He did the right thing, guys."

We all jumped and stared at the walkie-talkie. That was Leslie's voice, clear as a bell.

**LESLIE**

"I'm standing on the bedhead, I'll have you know," I said into the machine.  
"Leslie! What do you mean, he did the right thing?" That was Mello.

"I heard your talking, you must've forgotten to switch off the walkie talkie. Anyway. I told L to accept it, because I knew what it was."

"What is it?" Near asked. "And how did you contact L?"  
"Morse. Through the floor."

"Ooh, of _course_! That makes sense."

"Leslie! But he took our money!" Mello cut in, sounding like a little kid.  
"I know that. Open the envelope," I instructed.

There was a little but of rustling, and the sound of one person (Mello) telling another (Near) that they were doing it wrong. Finally, somebody grabbed the letter off the both of them, and Matt began talking.

"It's in a really weird language… like… weird," he said, slowly.

"Have any of you guys ever seen Thai?" I asked them.

"I have," L replied.

"D'you reckon it could be Thai?"

"…hey, yeah!"

"Ok, I need that letter. Urgently. How close is the tunnel to being finished?"

"Give us two days."

"Great. I'm outta here in two days, then. But I really, _really_ need that letter."

"Why?" Near asked.

"Yeah, why, Leslie?"

"I have to go," I said quickly.

"What?"  
"Yeah, I, uh, think some tuna is coming," I lied, panicked.

"Alright. But you're going to tell us," somebody said. I think it was L.

"I really have to go!"

I switched off the device and hid it under my bed. I'd have to tell them what it was about, but I couldn't. Not yet.


	20. Chapter 20

**Have you ever tried to watch Alan Partridge without laughing? Don't. You'll break a rib. That's all I can think to say.**

**L**

"It's filthy in here," Near moaned.

I had to agree with him. Our tunnel, now only a metre away from Leslie's shed, was dirty, disgusting, and, thanks to a recent downpour, very muddy.

"Ugh, she can't come out in this!" he continued.

"Near, she's been through a lot worse, so sit tight and shut up," Mello snapped from up ahead.

"Yes, ok," he replied, looking unhappily at his torn and muddied pyjamas.

"Almost there, everybody," Mello called out from where he was digging away.

"Hello?"

It was muffled, but it was definitely Leslie.

"Leslie!" I called out.

"Uh oh, floorboards," Mello muttered from up ahead. "Leslie, shift the floorboards!"

"'kay."

After a few minutes, artificial light filtered into our tunnel. We all scrabbled out, me last, and lay down on the floor.

"Welcome to my humble home," Leslie said, sarcastic.

She was different to last time I'd seen her. She looked pale, and there were huge bags under her eyes. But at least it was Leslie, in the flesh, no matter how worn she looked.

"You look _terrible_," Near gasped, and Matt and I cringed.

"Near…" I muttered, but Leslie shook her head.

"I know how I look. It's ok."

He flashed me an 'I-told-you-so' look and I rolled my eyes at him.

"So, what now?" asked Leslie, as she clapped her hands together.

"We're going to get you out of this place," Matt told her. "And the letter."

Leslie jumped. "The letter! I forgot all about it… crap, can I have a look?"

Matt held it out and Leslie took it, excited.

"Alright, aha, this is for me… hmm…tricksy… oh!"

We all turned to look at her (Mello had been comparing her stack of language books with his own height, I had been staring at the floor, Near had been looking into the tunnel and Matt had been nursing a paper cut from when Leslie snatched the envelope from him).

"What, what is it? Can you tell us the language?" Near asked before any of us could get a word in.

"Oh, this is_ good_. Clever, very clever…" she murmured.

"I'm sure it is," Mello said. "But _what is it_?"

"Norwegian."

"You speak Norwegian, too?" Matt asked, flatly, but she ignored him.

Leslie scanned the letter and then dropped it, just like that. Mello automatically grabbed it, but of course he didn't read Norwegian, so it was useless.

"I – I mean, I knew about someone, but…" Leslie whispered.

We all waited patiently for her to go on. When she didn't, Mello cleared his throat loudly and Leslie gave a little start, like she hadn't noticed we were still there.

"Oh, sorry guys. Yeah. Well, my mother grew up with a foster-brother. He was Norwegian, and he taught it to her, and she taught it to my dad, who taught it to my grandparents and so on. Anyway, I picked up a little. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that the foster-brother moved to Norway to do some ship-building thing. And he heard about me, and wants to know if I'll go live with him," she stated in monotone.

"Woah…" Near gasped next to me. "Can you read out the letter?"

"Uh, sure. Let me see… alright. Some of it is kind of broken in English, but it sounds dumb if I translate it like that, so. Anyway. 'Dear Leslie. I know that you've probably never heard of me. You might have. I hope so.' (I_ have_ heard of him, obviously) 'I heard that you lost your grandparents and parents and are in an English institution for gifted young ones. I have heard about your language skills also. I was thinking that possibly you would move to Norway and live there with your family. Even though we are not blood relations, your mother was like a sister to me and you are thus a niece to me. I hope you can receive this letter, because when I wrote to curator of the place said he that you were in some solitary learning facility. I sincerely hope that you are not and that you can receive this letter. I trust you can get to Norway. When you are in Oslo give me a call and I will pick you up. If you do not want to, do not.'"

"That's it?" I asked, after some time.

Leslie nodded. "That's it."  
"This guy doesn't even leave a name?"

"No, L, he didn't," Leslie said, passing a hand over her eyes like she was tired.

"So why trust him?" I demanded.

"Who said I did?" she asked.

I stopped, confused.

"I don't know what to think, but if I stay here, I will die," Leslie stated flatly.

"I guess you're right," I sighed, and grabbed her bag from the corner of the room. "Shall we get packing then?"

**LESLIE**

"This is an outstanding tunnel," I told them as I squished through it. "Really and truly. Great job, guys."

Nobody said anything, and I knew why. I didn't want to leave either, but some things had to happen. I didn't like it, but that was the way it was.

"Chin up, it's alright," I said. "I'll write. I promise."

"In English?" Near said from behind me.

"Definitely in English," I agreed. "You poor one-language folks don't have the pleasure of multiple tongues."

We crawled on in silence. Slowly, so slowly, a little speck of light formed and grew into an opening. It was L's room.

I squeezed out and stood up. It was just like I remembered it, only a bit dustier. I sniffed. I was going to miss this place. I'd think about it every day when I was in Oslo…

"Oh no!" I whispered, though loudly. I couldn't speak too loud for obvious reasons.

"Have we forgotten something?" L asked.

"How am I going to get to Norway?"

L went over to his bed and fished about under the mattress.

"What are you doing?" I sniffed, on the verge of tears.

"Getting £1000," he replied, casually.

I dropped my bag. On my foot.

"Where did you get that kind of money from?" I demanded, more surprised than anything else.

"Oh, here and there…" Mello said, neatly skirting around the question.

"Your bed was an antique, Les!" Near exclaimed, not so neatly.

Well, I wasn't going to need it, so I thought that was ok. I told them so, and L looked relieved for some reason. We stood in awkward silence for a few minutes, before Matt's phone rang.

"Oh, uh-huh. Ok, thankyou very much. Yeah, five minutes. Ok," he said, and hung up.

"That was the taxi," he continued, now addressing us. "The one I called before we went into the tunnel to get you, Leslie. Anyway, you'd better go."

I rubbed my nose on my sleeve.

"I'll miss you all very much," I sniffed. "Thanks f-for everything, and s-s-stuff…"

I put my hands to my face to hide my tears, but my loud sobs probably made the fact that I was crying pretty obvious.

"We're only an email away," L told me. "Visit, will you?"

"O-of course," I said, pulling myself together.

We said our goodbyes and walked together out to the foyer, and then into the street. They stopped at the door. I turned around.

"Well, this is it. See you all around," I said, and then turned around and got into the taxi, just like that.

And that was the last time I saw them.


	21. Epilogue

-- Several Years Later --

-- Several Years Later --

_Dear L,_

_I've written to everybody but you now. I don't know. I guess it's kind of awkward. I don't know why, and I don't know how to explain it._

_Anyway. I got to Oslo fine. My uncle is a great guy. A bit cold for me, to be honest, but I survive. You know, I'm thinking about coming over to Japan soon! I hear all the gang's over there. Something about that Kira guy escalating?_

_I saw your thing on YouTube, the one that told you that Kira was in some certain region. Brilliant, I must say. But when did you become so ruthless and use people as guinea pigs like that? I mean, I know he was due to be executed, but that's not the L I remember. But I'm sure you have your story._

_Oh! Can you believe Mello joined the mafia?? I laughed so hard when I read his letter. Black market chocolate is the biggest perk of his job, apparently._

_If you wonder what I'm doing, well, I'm a translator. Sometimes it gets a bit boring, but I'm ok with that. I go all over the world. And I'm learning Ancient Greek. It's great fun. Almost as good as Egyptian, but I won't keep you._

_Haven't heard anything much about Matt. Last I heard he was going to go help Mello with something. I wonder what…_

_Near's a detective, too. When I heard that you two were both detectives I thought Sherlock Holmes hats and magnifying glasses. Evidently not. Apparently the world of detectives is all high-tech these days, what with DNA something-or-other. But please don't take any dumb risks with this Kira thing like, I don't know, signing up at the same school or university as your main suspect or chaining yourself to them. Because that is just __too stupid__. Really, L. Your life is more important than that._

_I can't believe that it's been years since we last met face to face. It feels like no time at all and a lifetime. I remember, when I was out of sight, I cried and cried and cried. I missed you all so much for a few months. I couldn't sleep. I learnt to ski, and then snowboard. And that was great. I broke my leg when I crashed into a tree, but it was still great. I hadn't really felt much before that, but then I had an epiphany. It was brilliant. Have you ever been skiing, L? You should. Japan is great for skiing, I hear. But maybe you're too busy. But don't get too busy, or you'll lose yourself. And that would really suck, because than you have to crash into a tree to knock life back into you. _

_Anyway, I suppose you're very busy looking at hair fragments and things, so I'll wind this up. Just don't die. Promise me you won't die. And reply to me, won't you? I'll let you know if I'm coming to Japan any time soon on a translating job. I'm asking around._

_Love from Leslie_

_P.S. I never forgot about your art book._

**Author's Notes: Well, that's that! I can't believe I finally finished it. I think I'll take a well-deserved break and go eat some Vegemite toast. Please tell me what you thought. I mean, I'm not sure if I finished it well… I've never really finished a story before! I'm very proud of myself, actually. **

**Before I go, I'd like to thank everybody who Faved, Reviewed, put me on Story Alert or anything like that. You gave me the confidence to keep writing! I think a special mention should go to Spinningvortex who reviewed a lot and kept me inspired and feeling brave. **

**And who knows? Maybe this won't be the last time we hear from Leslie. Who knows? **


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